Secret of the Ashikabi
by The Wandering Bard
Summary: My take on the Sekirei series. There is a secret about the beings known as Ashikabi that not even Minaka knows, and as the Sekirei Plan continues to unfold a certain someone may be the key to unlocking that secret. But once the secret is out, what will happen? Lots of action, some comedy, and of course there's romance to boot! MinatoXHarem
1. Wheels in Motion

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Wheels in Motion

* * *

Takami Sahashi was standing behind her desk, her left hand resting on the glass surface of the modern industrial styled table.

Her right hand rested in the right pocket of the white lab coat that she wore. A coat that she had worn so many times it had become a part of her identity. Underneath the lab coat she wore a simple black top. For her lower half she wore a pair of dark trousers made of the finest silk to make them very comfortable to wear. As for footwear, she had on black flats. There was no point in wearing heels for her job after all, and she hated them anyway.

Her gray eyes were looking out of the glass windows of her office. Two sides of her office were all glass since she had a corner office. The view of the city was beautiful, especially at night when the city glowed. She could not help but think about how clueless everyone in the city was, or everyone in the whole nation for that matter. Nobody would have guessed what would happen in only a few days time. Nobody except her and Minaka. Not even the others in the company really knew what was going on.

Thinking of Minaka, she balled her hands into tight fists and gritted her teeth.

Minaka Hiroto. Chairman and CEO of the largest and most powerful conglomerate in the world: Mid Bio Informatics, also known as MBI. He was a genius, and yet also a madman. But he had not always been that way. She had loved him once, and he her, but ever since that fateful day when all this began something in him had changed. While his love for her remained, her's began to disappear as he changed into the Minaka that lived and breathed today. A far cry from the man he used to be, the man she used to love.

Still, she could not hate him. At least, not completely. He had, after all, given her children. Her eyes flicked over to look at a framed photo on her desk, her left hand reaching out and grabbing it. She brought it close to her face as it was hard to see in the darkness.

All the lights in the office were turned off, with the only lights coming in from the windows. From the lights of the city at night.

Her initially hard gaze softened as she stared at the picture in her hand. Her two children, a son and daughter, looked at the camera with happy, smiling faces as they hugged her from either side. A younger version of herself stared right back at her, a smile on her face as well. She returned the picture to where it belonged placed free her hand into the pocket of her coat just like the other one.

Her strides long and purposeful, she moved to leave her office. She loved her children very much, which was why she was going to go see Minaka. She needed to talk to him about them. She knew that because they had his genes, that because they were of his own flesh and blood, that Minaka would be involving them in his plans. And that simply was not acceptable to Takami.

It was late. The building was mostly deserted, with most of the employees home either asleep or getting ready to be. The only remaining personnel were the guards, soldiers, and medical staff stationed at Teito Tower, the headquarters of MBI located in the heart of Shinto Teito, capital of Japan.

An elevator was already open to her floor, as if knowing that she needed one. She walked in, turned on her heel, and swiped her ID card before pressing the button for the top floor. Hands in her coat pockets, she waited only a short while before the doors opened into a large reception area.

It was deserted.

She walked out of the elevator and headed for the glass doors directly opposite the elevator on the other side of the reception area. The area was excessively large, particularly because Minaka rarely ever got any visitors, if they were even allowed to get this far. As the head of the largest and most powerful conglomerate in the world, he was practically a king.

As she approached the glass doors with the MBI logo emblazoned on them proudly, she moved over to a console mounted onto a stand a few feet in front of the doors. Again she scanned her ID card and the doors smoothly slid open. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the even larger office of Minaka Hiroto.

It was empty.

Anyone else who had gotten this far, and there were only a handful of people who could have, might have thought he was out of the building and therefore unreachable. But Takami knew better. In fact, she knew him best out of anyone else besides Minaka himself. Even though he had changed, she knew who and what he had changed from and into. And she knew that he barely slept, and when he did it was in the office. This was his home, as he had told her many times before ever since the tower was built.

There were stairs on one side of the room, and Takami made her way towards them. They led up to the roof deck. If Minaka was not in his office, he was undoubtedly up on the roof deck. From that vantage point, you could see most of the city since Teito Tower was the highest building in the city by a few dozen stories.

Sure enough, he was out there near the edge and looking out at the city before him. His entirely white outfit billowing in the strong winds that often buffeted the highest point in the city. She always wondered how he could stand there for hours without seeming to be affected by the winds. It only took minutes for her to become irritated and chilled by the wind, but she ignored those feelings. She needed to talk to him.

"Hello, Takami." He was not surprised to see her and he did not turn around when he greeted her. Like Takami, he had his hands in the pockets of his white coat and slightly longer gray hair. Other than that, he was different from her in almost every way.

Takami was of typical height for a woman of Asian descent, who tend to skew on the shorter side. She stood at 5 feet 4 inches, or 162 centimeters, while he stood tall at 6 feet 3 inches, or 190 centimeters. He had blue eyes, she had gray. He was considered by many to be a 'super' genius, she was merely a genius. She was sane, he was not, or at least that's what she liked to tell herself.

"To what do I owe such a late night visit?" He said after a momentary pause that was punctuated only by the buffeting of the wind. "Is this a desire to rekindle some fiery romance?" His voice seemed to gain some excitement.

"No," replied Takami in a flat voice.

"Oh? How disappointing..." He truly did seem disappointed at that. He finally half-turned to look at her, his glasses catching a light and reflecting it slightly. He grinned at her. "So what is it then my dear Takami?"

She didn't appreciate him calling her his dear, but she did not voice her discomfort and displeasure at such a trivial thing. At least it was trivial in the grander scheme of things that they were both involved with. Which brought her mind to the original reason she went to visit him.

"Minaka," she began, "I do not want them involved in all this."

Minaka's grin seemed to widen. "And who might these people be? And what is this that you speak of?"

"You know who and what I am talking about.."

"Enlighten me."

"Our... _my _children. And the plan."

"The plan," he whispered. Minaka returned to looking out at the city before him. "They're all clueless as to what's about to transpire. They are lucky that I chose Shinto Teito for this magnificent event, now they will have front row seats to the birth of a new era, the dawn of a new age. The Age of the Gods! Oh it makes me tingle just to think about it! I wish it was already starting..."

"Did you hear me, Minaka? My children better not be involved in your schemes." She began to glare at him, her efforts would have bored a hole in the back of Minaka's head if that were possible.

Minaka spun on his heel, his cape billowing behind him and is spiky hair swaying every which way with the wind. He stopped in front of Takami and then half-turned back to the ledge, extending his arm out in a sweeping motion.

"_This _is the playing field for the game. If they are within the game's boundaries, they have no choice but to be a part of the game," he told her simply, making her visibly stiffen and glare at him even more. "If anything happens, then it happens. I won't force them to do anything, Takami dear. But I won't stop them from becoming a part of this glorious event if they are given that chance."

Her lips were pursed into a thin line. Her entire body was shaking from the effort she was expending to refrain from hitting him. Even though Minaka loved her and would not hurt her, she did not want to push him farther than he might be willing to tolerate and do something that might injure her.

"Didn't you hear me properly? I do not want them involved," she repeated.

Minaka tutted at her, "Takami, you know that I chose Shinto Teito to be the playground, to be the site of history in the making. And yet you allowed your children to come here to study and to live their lives." He looked at her and then out at the city. "The mere fact of being in the city means that they are part of the game, at least indirectly. And if any of them happened to be nearby when our little ones are released and running around," he paused. "Well, they would course become full participants. But all of that would have to happen without undue influence, of course. I will promise you that." He clasped his hands behind him and walked back to his spot near the ledge.

Takami did not like it. Not one bit. But what could she do? What he said was actually better than she had expected to get from him, which was merely a negative response. She turned and looked away, her own shorter gray hair blowing around her.

"Don't be like that, Takami!" Minaka's voice again pierced through the silence and carried over the winds. "Think of this as a golden opportunity to be a part of an event that will drastically shape humanity's future."

Takami shook her head, "I would rather spare them such a _golden _opportunity," she replied sarcastically.

"But why? Why would you deny them the glory of ushering in a new era?"

Her reply was dead serious, "Because it will be hard. It will be painful. And I want to protect them."

"A noble sentiment, my dearest Takami. But it is too late to stop it all from happening now. The wheels have been set in motion. Soon, the Sekirei Plan will unfold," he spoke with increasing excitement and joy and actually started to laugh. He suddenly stopped and cast her a sideways glance, "Besides, how can you be so sure one would react to them anyways?"

Takami narrowed her eyes at the sudden question. She and he both knew the answer to that question. With his genes in them, they were definitely Ashikabis. And Sekireis were attracted to the right Ashikabis. With that, the chances that they would become full participants in what Minaka called "the game" were much higher than he was making it out to be. Still, he was right though. She could not stop the plan anymore. Not having gone this far. And there was always the chance that no Sekireis would be attracted to them. A slim chance.

She slowly walked over to the ledge and looked down on the city before her.

"The wheels are in motion," Takami repeated under her breath. She only hoped her children would not get caught up in those wheels, least of all trampled.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I love this anime and will probably write a few stories about it in time. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy my first foray into the Sekirei fanfiction world. Reviews are welcomed with open arms.


	2. Collision

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Collision

* * *

Shinto Teito, with a population of sixteen million, is the capital city of Japan and the largest city in the country. It is the bustling center of the economy and the heart of the government. Highrises and skyscrapers were common, with a majority of people living in apartments or condominiums. It was basically a small island state of its own, being completely encircled by an enormous river. The only way into and out of the city was through the bridges. And even though it was already very crowded, people from all over Japan still tried to make their way to the grand city.

Why? Because of the opportunities presented there. Even with all those people, there were still plenty of jobs to be had. There were so many more activities to do and people to meet in the city than anywhere else in the country. And of course, for the youngest members of the society there was always the fantastic education that was offered by the top-rate schools in the city.

Shinto Teito University, specifically, was the number one ranked university in the entire country, and was considered to be in the top fifty worldwide. That meant that practically everyone applied there if they could even think of getting in, because to graduate with a degree from STU meant a guaranteed job anywhere in Japan and a stable future. The only problem with that of course was that most people thought that they could get into the university.

All of these were the reasons why Minato Sahashi moved to the city about ten months ago. After having lived in the countryside for so long, he longed for something different. Something drastic. Some place where he would be able to find himself and forge his own path. A place where he could meet beautiful girls, get a great education, have a great job, and go out and do different activities whenever he felt like it. And he found all of this in Shinto Teito.

There was nothing really special about his physical appearance. He was on the skinny side, with some muscle thanks to his gym class at his former high school that was run by a former Olympian. He had pushed them hard, and while Minato had hated every minute of it, a part of him wanted to thank the man for at least making him look better than a stick man.

His driver's license stated that he was six feet tall, though in truth he was only five feet and eleven and a half inches - he had rounded up to get to that magical number six. He had jet black hair that was quite unruly and long enough that he could spike it up as most of his peers did. Perhaps the closest thing to something special about his appearance would be his eyes, which were silvery.

In regards to his mental capabilities, he had always been one of the top students in school. The only problem however was that in pressure situations, his mind often failed him which meant on the larger examinations he would always score poorly. His teachers up until then had always understood this; it took them a while to realize that Minato actually knew the material well and was very knowledgeable about it, only 'choking' when the stakes got really high - such as final exams. Knowing this, they adjusted his grades to better reflect his actual intelligence and grasp of the material.

There were two problems related to this, however. One such problem was that his habit of crumpling under pressure was never really addressed properly, and so he continued to exhibit that habit even though it was highly detrimental to him.

The other problem was that Shinto Teito University did not know about this particular trait of Minato's, who took their entrance exam before he graduated high school. When the results had come back, he had been crestfallen and lost. He had of course failed the entrance exam, and so he spent a year doing odd jobs here and there to support himself.

His mother, Takami, still sent him a weekly allowance, which Minato could effectively live on until he got into university. Unfortunately, while it did cover the basic necessities, the allowance was not enough for Minato to go and do activities and buy things that he wanted. So he got whatever jobs he could find to help supplement the allowance that he was receiving.

He found a rather cheap but nice little apartment in a relatively quiet neighborhood of the city when he arrived there, and he was thankful that he at least had a decent home to live in as he tried to get started on the rest of his life.

Ten months after arriving in the city, with the first week of that involving moving into his apartment as well as taking and failing the STU entrance exam, Minato had gone to take the test again in the hopes of getting into the university for the start of the second semester. The results were being released today, which was why he had taken the trip to the campus to check the results board to see how he did on the test.

He had barely gotten any sleep the previous night because thoughts about his test results tortured his mind. He didn't know if he could handle failing a second time, not to mention the fact he would have to tell his mother and his sister about it. They would not be pleased at all.

On the subway he was already sweating nervously, his mind constantly going through multiple scenarios of what would happen once he found out his tests results, with the majority of the scenarios playing in his mind involving his failing the entrance exam for a second time. He tried not to think too much about it, but could not help himself. In the back of his mind, he noticed the strange glances of a few people on the subway, as well as people he had walked passed.

Soon he found himself on the STU campus, heading for the admissions office where they posted the results outside the building. He did not remember how exactly he got to the results board, only vaguely aware of his surroundings as his body moved on autopilot. There was a large crowd gathered around the small plaza in front of the admissions office.

He finally looked up, having been staring at the ground the entire time, and made his way ever so slowly through the crowd. Even though it was noisy with everyone there, he could barely hear them over the sound of his temples thumping as his heart pumped blood at an elevated rate. He finally made it close enough to the board to read and looked for his student exam number, part of the University privacy policy mandating that tester names not be disclosed and instead would be replaced by an exam number. His eyes stopped moving and his body froze as he found his number.

_Tester 2411 -_**_ DNP _**

Minato read it and blinked once. He read it again. He blinked a few more times. _No, no, no, no, no. No. __This can't be happening..._ he thought, _Not again. How... this has to be some kind of mistake._ He stared at the line of text for a while, as if willing it to change. It did not.

Tester 2411 did not pass the entrance exam.

-**xxxxxx**-

"HEY! Get back here!" cried a young black-haired woman, her tone conveying irritation.

"Yeah! Stop running damnit! This is for your own good!" yelled another dark-haired woman who looked almost exactly the same as the first, except for the fact that she had larger breasts.

Their words fell on deaf ears, however, as their target continued to elude them.

"Damn she's fast," observed the first woman.

The second scowled and clenched her fists, "We'll catch her. She'll slip up soon enough."

Ordinarily, two people chasing another through the streets would have been unusual but not surprising. In this case however, the chase was being conducted on the rooftops of the city. The three figures leaping through the air higher and running faster than the average person could. Higher and faster than even some elite athletes even.

Bands of electricity crackled around the bodies of the two women giving chase, and every so often they would hurl a lightning strike at their target. All their attacks missed though since their target was too far and moving elusively. Still, they were not about to give up just yet.

"Aha! We've got her," said the first woman triumphantly, "There's no way she can make that jump. She's got nowhere to go."

True enough, the last building they leapt onto had no other close buildings other than the one they had come from. There was nowhere to go except down several dozen stories or turning back to face the pursuers. At least that's what the two women thought.

Their target though had no intentions of going against them. Hesitating for only a moment, the target ran hard and fast and leaped off the other edge in an attempt to get to the building across the wide avenue.

"What the hell?" exclaimed the second woman," Is she crazy?"

They ran to the edge and watched as their target began to fall three-fourths of the way towards the next building, gravity reminding the target that it existed.

-**xxxxxx**-

Minato Sahashi walked aimlessly down some major avenue, hands in his pockets and head down. He didn't bother looking around to check where he was and he didn't care where he was going. He was too busy thinking about his life. His future was in limbo, having failed the entrance exam twice now. All that studying and preparation had been for nothing. He felt lost.

He wondered what had happened. He had done a decent enough job on all his practice tests and he had felt pretty confident with his studying. Yet here he was, nineteen years old and still not in college. What would his mother say? and his sister? He didn't want to think about it, but he did anyway.

His phone rang.

The phone vibrated in his pocket as it played a happy, beeping ringtone. His hand wrapped around it and he pulled it out. It was his mother.

"H-Hello?" he said weakly as he answered the call. His mind was spinning.

"Minato!" his mother's voice greeted happily over the phone, "I just spoke to your sister, she'll be arriving in the city tomorrow. She has some great news she wants to share with you, give her a call sometime today."

Minato groaned inwardly. His sister was coming to the city. _Great_, he thought, _just great_. While he loved his sister, he had not wanted to see her so soon after this fresh academic defeat. Talking about it over the phone was far different and easier than doing it in person.

"Okay mom, I'll call her later." He tried to say so with a happy tone, but could not muster it.

His mother noticed. "You don't sound so good, dear. Are you okay?" There was definitely a worried tone in her voice.

"I..." he began, but his voice failed him.

"Minato? Have you checked your exam results yet?"

"Mom. I didn't make it."

"WHAT?!"

He cringed. "Sorry mom. I just... I failed again."

"Minato Sahashi! How have you failed the entrance exam twice? TWICE!" She was not happy and more than a little disappointed. She sighed over the line. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, I still have work... But I was hoping to take a few days to think and figure out what to do." He had stopped walking at that point, standing rooted to the spot. His eyes were still looking down at the sidewalk, only barely aware through his peripheral vision of other people walking around him on the sidewalk.

"This is unacceptable, Minato, and I am extremely disappointed. What happened? I thought you-" she stopped abruptly and Minato could faintly here some muffled talking in the background. "Okay Minato. Call me in a few days when you've figured out your plan. I have to go. Don't forget to call your sister."

The call ended and Minato lowered the phone, staring at it in his right hand.

_What am I going to do..? _he thought.

Suddenly, a voice yelled at him from above. "Oh no! Watch out! Get out of the way!"

Confused, Minato looked up and his eyes instantly went wide.

A young woman was falling from the sky right above him. He had barely enough time to lean back a little and raise his hands slightly before she collided into him and they tumbled to the ground in a heap.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I'll be changing a few parts of the story here and there, but no major changes from the general major plot... until later. Muahahaha :)


	3. The Kiss That Changed Everything

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

The Kiss That Changed Everything

* * *

Minato was in a daze. He could feel the world spinning around him even with his eyes closed. His body ached from having tumbled hard to the ground. He tried to figure out what the hell happened, but he couldn't think properly at the moment. A few seconds passed before he was able to open his eyes and sit up, rubbing the back of his head where he had hit the pavement. He could feel a little wetness there.

_Great, I'm bleeding_, he thought. _Hopefully it's nothing too serious..._

His eyes widened as he came to the realization that he was staring at a girl's butt, her skirt having flapped up and revealing her white panties. Not that he could have helped it seeing how she was positioned right on top of him with her rear all up in his face. Still, he was horrified and wondered what people must be thinking of him at that moment. He could feel blood rushing to his cheeks and his mind felt dizzy again.

"Ack!" he exclaimed, moving backwards slightly away from the girl who had landed on him. He was about to say how sorry he was and that he didn't mean to be in such a precarious situation when he was cut off by the young woman.

"Ohh! I'm so so sorry! I couldn't stop and it was too far and I didn't mean to..." she said as she turned to look at him, moving into a kneeling position and placing her palms together. She bowed her head at him, "I'm sorry. Thank you so much for catching me! You're so nice!" She sat back up and smiled as she tiled her head slightly to the left, intertwining her fingers as her hands were still clasped over her chest.

She was a brunette, with the sides of her hair framing her face nicely and the back of her hair tied with a pink ribbon going all the way down to her waist. She had a single strand of hair that poked up above the rest on top of her head, as if it was some sort of antenna. She had bangs that went a little past her eyebrows. Her hazel eyes looked at him with genuine gratitude and interest. Minato was finding it very difficult not to stare at her because she was so beautiful, not to mention the fact that her breasts were huge! They had to be C-cups for sure, maybe even D-cups. Whatever they were, they were greatly emphasized by the tightness of the white shirt that she was wearing.

"Uhh..." Minato didn't know what to say, confused and flustered as he already was. He didn't have to say anything though as they were interrupted, this time by two voices coming from behind the young woman.

"You're crazy, you know that?" said one of the two young women who looked almost identical save for a difference in breast size between them as well as different shades of the same clothing. The one who had spoken first had a smaller bust and wore a light purple S&M outfit that Minato was having a hard time not ogling.

The second young woman, wearing a dark purple outfit, gave a nod of agreement. "No matter, crazy or not we've got you. Now hold still!" They both held up their hands and electricity began to crackle all along their arms.

Minato had a hard time understanding what he was seeing and thought that he must have hit his head pretty hard. Maybe it was all a dream and he was unconscious. Still, it felt very real to him and he was definitely afraid of what they were about to do.

Their hands stretched out, pointing towards the girl who was still kneeling on the ground. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he realized what they were going to do. He leapt up and grabbed her as he jumped to the side, away from where the two were pointing. A split second later and the spot where they had been was struck by two bolts of lightning that came from the two girls.

His side hurt a little from the fall, but he ignored it as adrenaline ran through his system. He stood up and glared at the two young women, the adrenaline making him feel rather courageous.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" he yelled, his fists clenching. He surprised himself with that sudden outburst, realizing that he was putting himself in great danger by doing so. He was so busy trying to stop the two girls he didn't even notice the look of wonder on the young woman's face as she looked on at him from where she was on the ground.

"Get out of the way, stupid! We want her, not you." The first young woman put her hands on her hips and glared back at him.

"No way! You... you can't hurt her! That's not right!" Again the words came out before his mind had enough time to process what he was really saying.

The second woman's eyes narrowed and she growled at him, "If you're not going to get out of the way then we'll just have to kill you too!" Her left hand crackled with energy.

"Hikari don't!" exclaimed the first girl, raising her hand and reaching out her, but it was too late as the other girl had already begun to move to attack.

Minato swallowed hard. He was surely done for.

With amazing speed and agility, the young woman who had landed on him got up and grabbed Minato's hand before running off, dragging the confused young man with her. The spot where he previously stood was vaporized by a flash of electricity, the sidewalk sizzling from the sudden heat.

The two young women watched in surprise as they ran away before beginning to run after them.

From the hand-to-hand contact that they had, Minato could feel her soft skin on his own and even in such a predicament he could not help but blush. This was the first time in a long while he had even held hands with a girl other than his mother or his sister, which was kind of sad. He noticed that she had fighting gloves on her hands and wondered if she did some kind of mixed martial arts. He was also amazed by her firm grip as well as her speed because they were going much faster than he thought she could have been capable of.

Several explosions erupted from behind them and Minato realized that the two young women were giving chase, bodies crackling with electric energy as they hurled that energy out towards him and the girl. This was all so incredibly surreal that he began to really believe this to be all a dream. He found that his heart rate was actually beginning to slow as well as the fear beginning to ebb away. This couldn't be real after all, so what did he have to worry?

The girl pulled him into an office building lobby and they ran through the place, eliciting surprised and curious looks from the employees and customers they passed. Soon they exited out the back of the building into a deserted alleyway and she finally stopped. She was breathing slightly faster than normal, but she was definitely not as tired as she should have been. She let go of his hand.

Minato leaned against the wall of the building they had left and slid down to the ground. He was practically dragged there so he barely did any work, but he still felt somewhat tired. His shoulder and arm also kind of hurt from being dragged by her. Thinking of her made him finally turn to her and he realized that she had moved right next to him.

Her hands on the ground, her hazel eyes looked at him intently. Her breathing had suddenly gotten faster, ragged. He wondered if all that exertion had finally caught up to her.

She moved closer to him and he pressed up against the wall from the sudden closeness, unsure of what to do.

"Ummm... h-hello. Wh-what are you...?" was all he managed to say as she got within inches of his face, causing his voice to catch in his throat. Her arms were at his sides, her body bent over his lower half. Minato was frozen to the spot.

He realized he could smell her. He took her scent in, breathing deeply. It was a lovely scent. Strawberries. She was so close to him that her hot breath was tickling his neck as she was breathing out of her mouth, making him shiver slightly. Her eyes were wide, looking at him with what seemed like... _longing? What the..? _Minato thought, still confused but so caught up in the moment that he didn't really care.

"SHIT! Is she...?" the voice of the first woman came from somewhere nearby.

"She's going to kiss him!" yelled the second woman in dismay.

_They found us! _Minato thought, alarmed, but then his mind processed what she had said. _Wait, she's going to...? _

"I found you..." the brunette whispered.

Minato's gray eyes locked with her hazel ones. That moment seemed to last for an eternity and Minato didn't even know that he was holding his breath.

And then she kissed him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **A short one, but I promise that most chapters after will be longer than this! :)


	4. Musubi

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Musubi

* * *

"Damnit Hibiki! We were so damned close!" The irritation was quite evident in her voice as she glared at the figure that stood before the two of them.

"Hikari, you know we can't do it anymore. She's emerged," responded Hibiki, her hand reaching out and grasping her sister's shoulder.

Anyone who saw the two of them would be able to immediately tell that they were twins. They looked exactly alike save for the fact that Hikari had larger breasts, which Hibiki was annoyed about but had long ago accepted. It was nice after all to not be completely identical physically so that they could each be very similar and still unique even without wearing different clothing.

The girl that they had been chasing for some time now stood before them with a renewed determination and strength. Her fists were clenched, red fighting gloves covering her hands. Her hazel eyes looked at the twins unblinkingly and with an eagerness that was somewhat unsettling to the two of them.

"You two wanted a fight, right? Well, I'm ready for you!" she said confidently, puling her fists close to her in a fighting stance. "I'm Sekirei number eighty-eight! Musubi! Now which one of you is first?"

Hibiki shook her head, her black hair waving from the motion. "Sorry, we don't fight emerged Sekireis."

"Huh? Why not?" asked the brunette, putting a finger up to the side of her mouth and looking at them, confused.

"She seems pretty confident, Hibiki, though a little clueless. I want to at least see what she's got," said Hikari, a grin forming on her face.

Hibiki let out a sigh. "If you want, but remember we aren't supposed to beat them if they're emerged, so take it easy." She leaped up onto a wall that separated this alley from the next and moved further away, turning around and crossing her arms across her chest as she prepared to watch the fight.

Hikari snorted and locked her eyes on the brunette, "Let's see what you've got number eighty-eight!"

At that statement Musubi's demeanor changed immediately. She grinned and got an excited gleam in her eyes as her body tensed. "Okay! Here I come!" she said in a sing-song manner. True to her word, she ran towards the raven black haired girl, who had begun to have electric currents crackling around her.

Her quickness was impressive as Musubi launched her assault, leaping to Hikari's left and swinging her right fist at her. She missed as Hikari stepped back and the fist sailed past her face, but Musubi didn't miss a beat as she kept up the pressure launching several more punches and even a few kicks. All of them missed by an inch or so.

Concentrating, Hikari let the electricity course through her and then let out a burst of it all around her, shocking Musubi.

The brunette hissed in pain but did not pause for more than second before she was at it again. Hikari was barely able to dodge the attacks, some of them coming in so fast and hard that the air currents created by the attack actually cut and damaged her clothing a little. Retaliating, she launched some short-range bursts of electric energy.

One of the bands of electricity connected with Musubi, shocking her and ripping her clothing. She staggered on her feet, shaken by the attack, then she somersaulted backwards and weaved between the arcs of electricity that followed that initial counter-attack.

Then she suddenly launched herself up into the air, causing Hikari to look up and immediately be blinded by the sun that was directly behind where Musubi had jumped up to and so she had looked directly at the sunlight. Her eyes hurt and she couldn't see as Hikari stumbled backwards a little. Concentrating, Musubi dove downwards towards her opponent with an outstretched fist for a heavy aerial attack on the momentarily blinded young woman.

Hibiki actually unwrapped her arms and looked ready to defend her sister when she saw that Hikari got to her senses in time, throwing up a strong electric shield.

Musubi's fist connected with the shield and she lay suspended in air as she gritted her teeth and tried to push through it forcefully. The shield held however, so Musubi abandoned that attack and somersaulted backwards again, landing nimbly on her feet. Her fists were up, ready to continue when she noticed that the black-haired young woman was holding her hand up to stop her.

"Not bad, number eighty-eight. With more practice you could be a very good," she complimented her truthfully.

The brunette wasn't sure what to say. "Oh... uhh, thanks?" She hadn't expected her first fight to be like this. To be so friendly, or at least she expected it to be more hostile than what she was currently going through. She thought that it would be more intense and a fight to the finish, where she would hopefully come out on top. This was not what she had imagined.

"Too bad we can't continue this. As my sister said, we don't really fight emerged Sekireis," Hikari said, her gaze drifting to the young man who was looking at them wide-eyed and in shock. Though if he was frozen from the kiss or from the fighting, she couldn't tell. "Congratulations on finding your Ashikabi. See ya!" With that she leaped away towards her sister and soon they jumped up onto the rooftops again and disappeared.

Musubi watched them leave and her body began to relax, her fists unclenching. She looked at her hands with disappointment. She had wanted that to be a real fight, but she could see now that it was not at all even close to a real one. She wondered if her opponent had even been really trying, which made her feel more disappointed in her abilities. She had always thought she was a strong fighter, but apparently she was not as strong as she made herself out to be.

"What the heck just happened?" said a very dazed and confused Minato, causing Musubi to jump up as she remembered why she was in that alleyway in the first place.

"Oh! Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, rushing to his side and kneeling down. She grabbed his hand with both of hers, "Did you get hurt anywhere? I forgot that you were here and could've gotten hurt... I'm sorry."

He smiled weakly, surprised at her apology. "Heh heh," he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "No need to apologize." He tried to stand but suddenly lost balance halfway up, only to be caught by the brunette.

His face smashed up against her chest, her large breasts feeling very soft and warm.

"Oh no! You're not feeling well, are you?"

"Mmm... fine..." he murmured, his vision getting cloudy.

"Umm... excuse me where do you live? I think I should take you home," she said with concern.

He mumbled an address as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered was being lifted up and carried.

-**xxxxxx**-

Unbeknownst to the two of them, they were being watched by a masked man with shoulder-length gray hair. He wore a long black suit that hugged his frame to match the black mask that covered half of his face. He was standing on top of a nearby building and had seen the entire scene unfold from his vantage point. He now watched as the young lady carried the young man off to wherever they were going to go.

"She's out of my hands now," he whispered towards the young man, "You better take care of her." His mind shifted to thinking about the others out there that he had to protect. He wondered how many more exactly there were, because he did not even know for certain the exact number.

He stiffened suddenly as his instincts told him that there was someone behind him. Sure enough, his ears caught the faintest sound of movement coming from behind him. In a flash he whirled around, arms up and ready to react to an attack he thought was coming. But it wasn't an attacker, or at least the person was not attacking.

Standing a few dozen feet away was a beautiful woman wearing a very revealing light purple Chinese dress. Her long dark purple hair flowed to the side as the wind blew. She had her hands clasped behind her back and she was looking at him with slight interest, a smirk on her face.

"Well," she started to say, her voice husky and alluring, "_hello _there."

He relaxed his body, recognizing who she was. She meant him no harm as far as he knew.

"Were you enjoying the show too?" she asked.

He looked back at the alleyway that he was only recently watching intently. "I was protecting the unemerged Sekirei," he explained, "But it looks like she found her destined one, so she's now out of my hands."

"What are you going to do when they're all emerged?" She seemed genuinely interested in the answer to that question.

He turned back to her, putting his hands in his pockets and ignoring the question completely. "What are _you_ doing here?"

The woman leaned back a little and ran a hand through her long purple hair. "Oh, well I heard the commotion since I was nearby and thought I'd check it out... be entertained. You know, it's been rather boring around here lately." She let out a sigh at that.

"Is this really all a game to you?" asked the man in black, irritated by her taking this situation so lightly.

"What's wrong? Didn't _he _say this was a game? Why shouldn't we enjoy ourselves while we play?"

The masked man shook his head and turned on his heel. "If you have nothing else to say, I'm leaving." He started to walk towards the edge of the building, pausing at the very end as if waiting for her to say something.

"Goodbye then! I'll see you again soon!" she called out to him as he leaped away and was soon out of sight.

She pulled her arms out from behind her, revealing a large bottle of sake that was already half empty gripped tightly by the neck in her right hand.

-**xxxxxx**-

Minato slowly regained consciousness. As he woke up more, he started to groan as he felt his body aching, not to mention his head was hurting too. He opened his eyes a little, noticing that he was on his bed in his apartment. He yawned and stretched out. As he did so his hand touched something soft and somewhat round.

Groggy and a little confused, he slowly grabbed it in an effort to try and figure out what that was. He didn't remember having anything nearby that would remotely resemble what his hand had just grazed. He squeezed it a little. It was very soft. _This is almost like a..._ he began to think but then he heard a slight moan of pleasure that completely disrupted his train of thought.

His eyes snapped completely open and he withdrew his hand, memories of what happened flooding back to him instantly. His gaze went to the figure that lay about a foot away, near the edge of the bed. It was the brunette that had landed on him from yesterday and who apparently had some kind of special martial arts abilities because he recalled seeing her leaping and moving higher and faster than he thought was humanly possible.

Then he remembered the two identical women who had been chasing after them, one of whom the brunette had fought. Things after that were a bit hazy and he couldn't quite remember how they had gotten back to his apartment. How did she even know that he lived there?

She started to move, stretching out herself and turning over, bringing her closer to Minato.

He instantly noticed two things: one, she was not wearing a bra. Two, the shirt was only half-buttoned up. His blood started to pump and he could feel himself heating up, causing him to move away in embarrassment and subsequently falling out of bed. He hit the floor with a thud. Minato slowly got to his feet, rubbing his back where he had landed. Thankfully the floor was carpeted and so his fall was cushioned somewhat.

"Good morning!" greeted the brunette with a smile.

"Uhh... hi." Minato was trying very hard to avert his eyes.

The brunette sat up on the bed, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and giving him a curious look. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Nothing!" he blurted out, "Nothing's wrong. I mean... well, I'm okay."

She smiled again. "Good! I was a little worried there. You had hit your head pretty hard earlier and you were bleeding, but I washed you up and put some clean clothes on you and let you sleep."

His face turned absolutely red at that statement. "D-did you just say you washed me..." he asked weakly.

She gave a vigorous nod, "Yup yup! You were covered in dirt and some blood and I didn't want you going to bed so dirty." She saw the look on his face and looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, I hope that was okay..."

He raised his hands and waved them at her, "Oh! No, no! It's fine, no need to apologize I'm just..." _not used to having a girl wash me... _he finished the thought in his head. "If you, uh, don't mind me asking... who are you? And... well, what exactly are you doing here?" He felt it was very awkward to ask, but he needed to know.

She crawled over to his side of the bed and sat on the edge, her feet flat on the floor. "Well, my name is Musubi. I'm Sekirei number eighty-eight, and... you're my Ashikabi, which is why I'm here. Your name is what by the way?"

Minato gave her a blank stare, not understanding. "Okayy... uhh, my name is Minato," he said slowly, "and well, it's nice to meet you Musubi. But... what do you mean I'm your Ashikabi? What _is _an Ashikabi?"

Musubi opened her mouth to start responding when her stomach suddenly growled really loudly. She looked slightly embarrassed at that, placing a hand on her stomach. "Sorry," she said meekly.

He realized then that he was actually feeling hungry too. "Well, how about this. Let's go get something to eat, and you can explain what the heck is going on. Deal?"

"Okay!" came the reply almost as soon as he finished speaking.

He opened his closet and got some clothes and got dressed. As he turned around, he stumbled back a step as his eyes went wide for what seemed like the thousandth time as Musubi stood a few feet away from him in nothing more than her panties. She was regarding her clothing from yesterday and when Minato finally peeled his eyes off of her he noticed that her clothes were all tattered and torn.

Averting his gaze and feeling his cheeks heat up, he spoke, "Musubi... why don't you use some of my clothes for now. I'll get you something to wear after we eat."

She enthusiastically agreed and, still looking away for the most part, he gave her some clothes she could use temporarily. As she was changing she noticed that he was not looking at her and she could not help but feel a little sad as well as concerned that he did not like her figure. As her Ashikabi, Minato's opinion of her mattered a lot and she wondered what it was about her that he did not like seeing. Her stomach growled again and she resolved to ask him about it later.

Twenty minutes later, they were back in Minato's apartment in his small living and dining room. They had gone to Burger Queen since it was close by and they served the food really fast and he had bought them several cheeseburger meals. Minato had only finished his first when he noticed that Musubi had already eaten four of the eight burgers he had bought her. Each hand held a burger as she ate two at a time.

He marveled at how much she could eat and how fast she could eat it and wondered how on earth she kept her figure if she ate like that all the time. She was absolutely sexy and barely had any fat on her and yet here she was easily chowing down on hamburgers.

"So, Musubi... what's this whole Ashikabi business and what has that got to do with me?" he broached the subject again after she finished her fifth one and was about to finish her sixth burger.

Her hazel eyes looked at him and he couldn't help but feel a warm sensation building within him. "Well, Minato. An Ashikabi is our destined one. The one that we Sekirei are fated to meet and love."

"Love?" he repeated, his complexion paling a little. That meant that she loved him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This beautiful girl that he only met yesterday was saying that he was her destined one and that she loved him. Truthfully, he was not exactly sure how he felt about that, but there was no denying the attraction he could feel for her.

She nodded vigorously again, "Yup! Love! Fate brought us together, Minato, and when we kissed we created a contract between us. A love contract between a Sekirei and her Ashikabi, and I promise that I will be together with you forever!"

Minato was starting to feel dizzy again. This whole notion of her being in love with him was already a lot, but now that she was talking about being with him forever it was a little too much to handle in one sitting. Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to steady himself. When he opened his eyes he noted that Musubi had finished all her burgers.

"I remember when we kissed..." he started to say, his mind flashing back to it and he felt flushed as he remembered it vividly, "I remember when we kissed there was a glowing light and I could feel some kind of energy course through me... and then you kinda floated and had these strange wings appear behind you... was that.. was that part of the contract?"

"Yup! It's called emerging, or winging. When a Sekirei kisses her Ashikabi, it unlocks her powers further and so she emerges," she traced her lips with an index finger, her eyes staring off into space as she too recalled the kiss. Her cheeks went slightly red.

Minato scratched his head, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. After what he had seen in that alleyway, he could not discount the fact that superpowers definitely existed. Still, it was hard to fully change such a previously strongly held belief that there was no such thing as powers and magic. The whole situation seemed straight out of some TV show or movie and at face value he should have simply went to the police about a crazy women claiming to be some superpowered ninja. He believed her though. After seeing it with his own eyes, he knew she was telling the truth.

"So each Sekirei has their own powers? Like those two were lightning or electric type Sekireis?" he asked, trying to understand better.

She nodded in the affirmative again, "You're right, Minato. And _I _am a fist-type Sekirei!" A wide smile formed on her face as she pumped her fist.

He couldn't help but smile. Her personality was very childish and it was very cute, and that plus her actual beauty made her very attractive to Minato. He still was not too comfortable with the idea that this girl was now going to be living with him, apparently forever.

"Uh, Musubi, if you don't mind me asking... Why exactly are there Sekireis? Like why were those two girls trying to kill you?"

Her expression turned serious, which made Minato pay even closer attention. "It's all part of the Sekirei Plan. 108 Sekirei have been released here in Shinto Teito in order to find their Ashikabis. Once found, they are to fight each other until the last one is left standing, then she can claim her prize for winning the Plan!"

Minato thought he could not be any more surprised than he already had been, but he was mistaken. His mouth was hanging open, disbelief in his eyes. "You mean to tell me that the Sekirei Plan involves you guys fighting each other until there is only one left standing?"

Musubi gave him a solemn nod, "Not exactly. We don't actually try to kill each other, only to defeat our opponents. Once defeated they are out of the game."

"And what's this prize that you win for being the last Sekirei?"

"You get to stay with your Ashikabi _forever_!" she said, getting a little excited again.

"But what happens... what happens if you lose?"

Before she could reply, however, Minato's television crackled to life. Static burst from its speakers before disappearing and a image of a bespectacled man in white clothing appeared.

The young man reached for the remote to try and turn the TV off. "What the heck is wrong with this thing...?" he mumbled, wondering why it had started up on its own.

"Please don't do that, Minato Sahashi," said the man in the TV.

The remote slipped from Minato's grasp and fell to the ground, his eyes glued to the TV.

"Good, now that I have your attention, I'd like to personally congratulate you on joining the Sekirei Plan, you've become a very important player in a very important game. I do hope that you know what the Plan is...?" he trailed off, looking expectantly at Minato.

The young man stammered a reply, "Ah, y-yeah well basically th-the last Sekirei standing wins."

"Good. Good, good," said the man on the TV, pushing his glasses up his nose, obviously pleased. "That's the basic gist of it."

"E-Ex-Excuse me, sir, but who a-are you?"

Musubi finally spoke up gleefully, "It's the professor!"

"The professor?" repeated Minato, "You know this man?"

Musubi nodded.

"You haven't been watching a lot of television lately, have you Minato Sahashi? If you did, you would recognize me. Anyways, I don't have a lot of time to chat so I'll tell you this right now: do _not _under any circumstances reveal the nature of the Sekirei Plan to anyone outside the Plan. This is a secret. If you don't keep it a secret..." he trailed off again, this time with a threatening tone.

Minato's mind finally clicked into action and he vaguely recalled that this man was involved somehow with Mid Bio Informatics, the behemoth global conglomerate. "Wait! W-what happens? What are you going to do?"

"Remember, don't reveal the Plan to anyone. Got it? Excellent. Good luck, Minato Sahashi!" With that the television turned itself off, leaving a dark and empty screen.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A knocking at his door made Minato jump up in surprise, his head swiveling to look at the door. He wondered who it was as he walked over and unlocked it, opening the door and instantly regretting it. Before him on the landing stood a tall, large man in a dark suit with sunglasses and a radio ear piece. He held a box in his large hands. A small button on his suit jacket lapel read MBI.

Minato looked warily at the man, fear gripping him. "I-I haven't told a-anyone! I promise! I've k-kept it a secret! Please don't hurt me."

The man simply grunted and shoved the box towards Minato, who reflexively grabbed it. Without a word, after handing over the package, the man closed the door and left.

Musubi walked over to him and glanced at him curiously, "You look very pale, Minato. Maybe you should lie down again and rest." Her gaze drifted to the box, "What's in that?"

He walked back to where they had been sitting before and placed the box down, Musubi following him and sitting right next to him and the box. He simply looked at it, his mind churning, and so she ended up opening it herself. The box turned out to be full of clothes for Musubi, and she was very happy about it. So happy that she started to change right then and there, which brought Minato out of his thoughts.

"Musubi!" he cried out in surprise as for the second time that day she was practically naked in front of him. "I'll wait outside while you change!" He quickly slipped out the front door and closed it, sitting down on the landing.

Back inside, Musubi had watched him leave and again did not understand what was wrong. Was she not attractive to him? She got dressed and then opened the door, sidling next to Minato on the wooden landing.

"Minato?"

"Yes, Musubi?"

"Do you not like me?"

He turned to her, his gray eyes meeting her hazel ones, "O-of course I like you!" he proclaimed.

"But why do you turn away when I get undressed?"

Minato blinked a few times. Did he really have to explain this to her? "Well, it's just that... I'm not used to beautiful women getting undressed when I'm around... plus, I mean... you should be concerned about your modesty and... we don't really know each other that well... basically, it makes me a bit uncomfortable."

She looked down, "So you don't like my body?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Musubi. I do like you, I mean what guy wouldn't? And your body is wonderful. I'm... I'm just not comfortable with the whole getting naked as if it was nothing idea."

"But it_ is _nothing! it's just clothes..." she replied, still not understanding.

"Look, you're a very sweet and innocent girl, Musubi. And like I said I like you, and I feel uncomfortable when you get undressed because it feels like I'm taking advantage of you. I... I need some time to get used to this whole thing, okay? So at least try and be a little more modest when I'm around," explained the young man.

The brunette slowly nodded, "I guess I understand. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable." She moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his shoulder.

He found himself to be enjoying her closeness, her wonderful scent wafting up into his nose. His elbow was brushing against her breasts, but he didn't complain or move for the first time that day. She seemed very comfortable and content and he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Minato?" She snuggled closer to him.

He looked down at her, "Hmmm?"

"I love you."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Aaaand another one in the books!


	5. Kicked Out

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Kicked Out

* * *

Minato had his arm draped around her as they sat on the wooden landing outside his apartment, Musubi's arms wrapped around his torso and her head resting on his shoulder. He still was having trouble understanding that this was all very real and not simply some dream.

"AHEM." A rough voice sounded from the stairway, making Minato jump a little.

"AH! Mister Landlord sir!" he said in surprise as he sighted the short, stocky old man.

He had his hands behind his back and was glaring at Minato. "Mister Sahashi..." he growled, left eye twitching slightly. "...I hope you remember the lease you signed."

The young man understood perfectly what he was upset about and disentangling himself from Musubi he stood and bowed towards his landlord. "Mister landlord sir, she is my friend and was about to leave actually! I swear she's not living here!"

Musubi held an index finger up to her lips, looking somewhat confused.

"You better not be lying to me, Mister Sahashi... because if she _is _living here. So help me... I _will _throw you out!"

"Yes sir! Understood sir!" said Minato, bowing several times with his hands together.

"Hmmph." The old man turned and walked down the stairs as he started to hum some tune, leaving them alone.

Minato sighed and closed his eyes, bending over and placing his hands on his knees to support himself. He didn't know what to do. Sooner or later his landlord would find out that Musubi was in fact staying with him and he would be homeless. _They _would he homeless. He looked at Musubi, who looked up at him with her confused and innocent brown eyes.

"Is there something wrong, Minato? Did I do something bad?" she asked him with concern.

He waved his hands about, "No! No! This isn't your fault at all. Don't worry about it, okay? I've got a plan."

She smiled. "Okay then!"

He turned his head away, looking down the street. _What do I do?_

-**xxxxxx**-

She was working through a few dozen reports and documents that were on her desk. As the official head of the Sekirei Plan she was in charge of everything that Minaka did not want to do as Game Master - which was essentially everything involving the actual hard work that went into the project. All the paperwork, meetings, inspections, and whatnot.

A knock on the office door made Takami look up from the documents that she was pouring over. She leaned back in her chair and stretched, sighing as she felt the soreness of her tired body.

"Come in," she called out.

The door opened and to her surprise Minaka walked in, his white cloak billowing about him. He flashed her a smile and pushed his lenses up with a gloved hand.

"Hello, Takami dear," he greeted her warmly.

"What do you want?" came the irritated reply.

"Oh, I simply wanted to check in and see how you were doing."

"Bullshit."

"Now, now, Takami. Watch your language."

She rolled her eyes, "Why did you _really _come? As you can see, I'm very busy trying to actually run the Sekirei Plan."

He sensed the anger in her voice, but he did not respond to it. He walked over to one of the window walls of Takami's corner office, looking out over the city. "I did come here to tell you that Minato is now officially part of the game."

Takami's anger dissolved immediately, replaced by stunned disbelief.

"It appears he has winged Sekirei Number Eighty-eight." Minaka turned and looked at the silver-haired woman sitting behind the desk. "Not unexpected, if you ask me."

She still could not believe it. She had been holding on to the hope that perhaps he would not be involved, even though everything signaled that he probably would be. Her little boy was an Ashikabi and involved in the Sekirei Plan. She finally moved, getting onto her computer terminal as her hands flew across the keys, accessing the computer mainframe.

Minaka's lips twitched into a small grin. "That's all I really wanted to say. I figured you would have been too busy to notice it, so I thought I'd tell you myself." He stepped towards the door, stopping as his hand reached for the handle. "Don't worry too much, I think he might just surprise us both." With that he was gone.

Takami stared at the screen on her desk. It had taken her only a minute to access the Sekirei Plan server and to make a search for Minato Sahashi in the Ashikabi listing. Sure enough, his name was on the list. It was true. Minaka was not lying. Minato was an Ashikabi. And one Sekirei was marked on his file.

Sekirei Number 88. Musubi.

-**xxxxxx**-

Minato had his laptop out and was already making note of all the local real estate agencies in the area as well as doing some preliminary research on some vacant listings that were nearby. He did not want to wait until he was kicked out to begin the search, knowing full well the troubles he would have. Especially considering that he did not have anyone to back him if he took out a loan, which he might have to try to do since he might not be able to afford any other apartments in the area.

He had been lucky enough in finding this one because it had barely fit under his small budget and had only come across it because the landlord happened to be in the same real estate shop that he was in and had overheard his conversation with the agent.

"Minato! Dinner is ready!" Musubi's voice called to him, breaking his concentration.

He looked up and realized she was standing only a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her and with a fond look in her eyes. He put his laptop aside and as he stood he smelled the lovely aroma of a wonderfully-cooked meal. Saliva started to fill his mouth and a grumbling in his stomach made itself known.

A few minutes later and they were seated on the floor, their steaming food on the low dining table.

"Wow, Musubi. This looks really good," he remarked, earning him a big smile from the brunette.

She blushed, "Oh, well I hope you think it tastes as good as it looks."

He deftly handled his chopsticks and took his first bites of the meal, not even realizing that Musubi hadn't even touched her chopsticks yet as she waited on his reaction. "Mmmm..." he chewed slowly, "This is absolutely delicious!"

"Really? You think so?" Musubi's smile widened further.

Minato nodded vigorously as he continued to eat. It certainly was one of the best meals he's had in his life. _If she cooks like this all the time_, he thought, _I could definitely get used to this! _

"I'm glad." She then picked up her chopsticks and began to eat her own dinner, almost as hungrily as Minato.

When they were finished, Minato thanked her profusely for the wonderful meal. "This is honestly one of the best dinners I've ever had! You might be an even better cook than my mom!" He gave her a genuine smile.

She blushed again, "Oh, you don't have to be so nice. It couldn't have been _that _good."

"But it was!"

Unable to contain herself, Musubi was soon hugging him tightly. Her large breasts pressing firmly against his chest and her scent filling his nostrils. It was all he could do to keep himself from following his baser instincts, and he did so only because he thought that in doing so he would be taking advantage of her.

"Minato," she whispered, "You're so nice and wonderful... I'm... I'm so happy you're my Ashikabi!" She held him tighter and he returned the embrace.

"You're wonderful too, Musubi." _Too wonderful, in fact... I don't deserve you, _he thought to himself, _I haven't even gotten into university yet and have a lowly job. I definitely don't deserve you_.

They held each other for a while before Minato realized that Musubi had actually fallen asleep, their arms still wrapped around each other. Her cheek was resting on his shoulder, her head slightly turned, and her breathing was slow. He tried to disentangle himself from her but even unconsciously she reacted, gripping him tighter. This caused him to lose balance and fall from a sitting position to the ground. It was not enough to wake her up though.

She turned her head, which was now resting over his left breast, her hands still wrapped around his torso and her legs intertwined with his. A peaceful, contented look was on her face and even though he felt uncomfortable he did not move.

"Musubi..." he whispered, bringing up one of his hands to brush a lock of hair away from her face.

Soon, he too fell asleep.

-**xxxxxx**-

Musubi woke up first, her eyes slowly opening as she came to the realization that she had fallen asleep _on _Minato. At first she was appalled that she had made him sleep so uncomfortably, but then that feeling was slowly replaced with happiness as her close proximity to him could only bring. Her head was on his chest moving to the rise and fall of his chest and she listened to the steady beating of his heart.

_This is definitely where I belong_, thought Musubi, _in his arms. In his presence._

Eventually she got up, thankful that he did not wake up in the process. She carefully got a pillow and slid it under his head before standing up and looking around. The remains of their dinner were still on the table as she realized that she had forgotten to clean up last night. Quickly getting to work, she grabbed the plates and began to clean up as she started to hum a light tune.

Once that was done, she saw that the trash was full so she took out the trash bag and replaced it with a new one. Tying up the old one, she headed for the door. It took her another minute to walk outside, go down the stairs, and throw the garbage into the dumpster before heading back. All the while she hummed a tune.

What she failed to realize through all this was that the landlord happened to be looking out his window as she threw out the trash. His left eye began to twitch and his teeth began to grind as his body tensed. Three minutes later, and he was in front of Minato's door.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

Loud knocking startled Musubi, who had been content to sit down and watch Minato sleep. It also woke up Minato, who sat up groggily and rubbing his eyes.

"MISTER SAHASHIIII!" yelled the gruff voice of his landlord angrily through the door. "I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE! OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!"

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

That woke him up. Minato's eyes widened and he looked fearfully at Musubi then at the door as he swiftly got to his feet. Panic rose up in him and his pulse raced as he walked to the door with slow steps.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR MIS-" the landlord started to yell again but stopped as the door was unlocked and opened halfway, revealing Minato with his black hair even messier than usual.

Minato looked at him sheepishly, fear in his voice. "Good morning sir!"

"DON'T YOU GOOD MORNING ME, MISTER SAHASHI," the landlord yelled into his face, spittle flying everywhere from the anger that he held.

The young man was not even phased by the flying spit because of his fear of what was about to happen.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear that I rent ONLY to SINGLES, MISTER SAHASHI." He glare made Minato look down.

"Yes, sir. You did..."

"THEN WHY IS IT THAT I SAW A GIRL WALK OUT OF YOUR APARTMENT A MERE FIVE MINUTES AGO?"

Minato did not know what to say.

The landlord shook his head, his body shaking slightly, and he wagged his right index finger towards the young man. "YOUR LEASE IS TERMINATED. GET OUT!"

Minato felt like he had been punched in the gut. "But, sir!"

"GET. OUT. NOW!"

Musubi had come up behind Minato and placed her hand on back. She could not understand why they were being kicked out, and felt like she did something wrong.

The touch of the brunette made him gather some confidence and wits, and he bowed his head and clasped his hands together. "Please, sir. At least give me some time to find another apartment. I promise I'll move out soon. Please, have mercy. Don't throw us out on the streets so suddenly! I beg of you!"

Musubi chimed in, "I'm sorry to, sir. Whatever it is I did, I am truly sorry. I did not mean to cause any trouble."

The landlord growled and he looked as if he was going to yell again, but he did not. Instead, he turned around and, looking over his shoulder he said stiffly, "You have two days. Then I want you OUT."

Minato could not believe it. He didn't think it would work, that he could convince the landlord to at least give him some time. But perhaps the old man wasn't _that _bad after all. He was simply sticking to the lease agreement after all, which in all honesty Minato did break by having Musubi there.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you so much."

The landlord muttered something that sounded like "don't thank me yet," as he walked away, but Minato could not be sure.

He sighed heavily, shoulders slumping as he shut the door. It was bound to happen, he knew that it was only a matter of time, but he still thought that it would take at least a few more days. He had barely been able to check any other places out and had not even gone to any of the real estate agents yet to find a place. Now he had two days or else they would be out on the street.

"I'm sorry, Minato. I'm so sorry." Musubi's voice was filled with sadness.

He whirled around, shocked. "You have nothing to apologize for!" he insisted, grabbing her arms and shaking her slightly, "Listen to me, Musubi. This isn't your fault at all! So don't apologize. You did nothing wrong."

She shook her head, "But you wouldn't be kicked out of your home if it wasn't for me being here! So it _is _my fault!" Her eyes began to water, sad that she was causing such troubles to her Ashikabi.

Minato put a hand under her chin and lifted her head up so that they were looking at each other. He smiled at her and said, gently, "Musubi. This was not your fault at all. Stop blaming yourself. I'm happy that you're here, and I'm not upset that I'm being kicked out. Look, we'll find a new place to live. A better place, even. You'll see! It'll all work out. So stop crying and stop blaming yourself, okay?"

She looked at him with unabashed affection, making him blush. "Okay."

He brought her in for a hug and they held each other for a while as Musubi's sobs faded and she stopped crying. Pulling away, he looked at her, "Alright. Let's start looking for a new place to live right after we get some breakfast."

"Right!" said Musubi, wiping her cheeks and eyes dry with the back of her gloved hands. "Let's do it!" she pumped a fist in the air and smiled.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **More coming! Been reeeaallly busy lately.


	6. Warmth in the Cold

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Warmth in the Cold

* * *

Minato ran a hand through his messy raven-black hair, the frustration building inside of him. His two days were almost up and he had not had an ounce of success in finding a new apartment to move to. It was looking more and more like they were going to have to live on the street for at least a while.

_No, I can't let that happen... I won't_. His hands tightened into fists as he walked down the sidewalk.

He was heading back to his current but soon-to-be former apartment, deep in thought as the sun began to set. He had spent much of the first day going to the various real estate agencies nearby, only to come up empty in his search. He was passing through a park that was on the way back home when he noticed that the temperature began to drop.

A few more feet and the park became very chilly. He took his hands out of his pockets and hugged himself, rubbing his arms with his hands. He could not understand what was happening. It was strange that the temperature would so suddenly drop, especially in the middle of summer. His imagination began to kick in at that point and he began to think that perhaps there was some kind of ancient spirit or ghost present.

Because of the sudden coldness, a light fog hung in the air in the park so it made it difficult to see. As Minato walked along, his eyes darting around warily, he began to notice the silhouettes of several figures nearby and on the path he was taking.

He heard male voices speaking as he approached the figures. He counted three standing around a bench and what looked to be a fourth figure sitting down.

"Hey baby, you look so lonely.. why don't you come with me and the boys?" said a man with a sleazy voice, "We'll show you a good time."

"I think we should leave her alone, boss. Don't you think it's a little strange that it got a helluva lot colder ever since we started talking to this chick?" said one of the other men.

The third spoke up too, "Yeah, boss man. This ain't worth it. Let's get out of here... I'm starting to get the creeps."

"Shaddup fools! Grow some balls, won't ya? What, you afraid she's some kinda ghost or somethin?" yelled the man with the sleazy voice. "Let's prove it then."

There was a feminine cry of surprise. The figure on the bench was a female!

"See? She's real enough." He laughed, "Man, these things feel good... very soft. You give it a try!"

"Boss! Somebody's coming!"

"What?!"

Minato had a bad feeling about the whole thing as the three men turned. He was close enough to see them even clearer now and they him. They all wore hoodies with their hoods up, obscuring part of their face. But Minato could tell they were mean and pissed off. He felt it would have been safer not to get involved, but he could not simply walk by and do nothing. That would go against everything he believed in.

"What are you guys doing?" he blurted out, body rigid with tension as the nervousness filled him. He felt adrenaline begin to enter his blood as his heart began to race. Suddenly, it wasn't that cold anymore.

"None of your business, bub. Just move along and nobody gets hurt," said one of the men, threateningly.

Minato shook his head, "Why are you harassing this girl?"

"Are you deaf, kid?" asked the man with the sleazy voice. "I'm pretty sure we told you to get the hell outta here. Now I won't repeat myself. Get out, or you'll regret it."

The young man gritted his teeth, hands balled into fists. "Please stop this. Leave her alone."

A gasp from the young woman on the bench surprised all of them, before the three returned to looking at Minato. She could not believe it. This young man was fighting to protect her. But why? What would make him do something so dangerous? She had trouble understanding his motives, because for her he really had reason to risk his safety for her, the discarded one.

The man with the sleazy voice laughed. "Tryna play hero, huh? Boys, why don't you show our hero here what happens when he tries to interfere with things he shouldn't."

"Sure thing boss," said one of the two other men while the other simply let out a short laugh of pleasure. They approached Minato, their fists up and their mouths twisted into sneers.

They moved to opposite sides of him, getting closer, and then attacked at the same time. Minato barely reacted fast enough, jumping back and out of the way. His eyes widened, realizing the extent of the situation. All he really knew about fighting he had seen from movies, TV, and the internet. And that was going to do him no good at all. He raised his hands, fists ready.

"Heh, this kid wants to play." One of them launched himself wildly at him and he had good enough reflexes to move out of the way, but he was not fast enough to evade the second guy who attacked about a second after his friend. A fist slammed into his side and he grimaced in pain, stumbling backwards. He had no time to rest as he brought his arm up and to the side to block a strike from the first attacker, only to again get attacked from the second guy. This time the punch landed on his gut and he doubled over instantly from the impact.

He stood no chance after that.

They punched and kicked him several times before stopping. He was on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. Minato could already feel the bruises forming where they had hit him all along his body. His mind was in a daze, heart still pumping two hundred beats a minute, the adrenaline taking the edge off some of the pain.

He faintly heard footsteps getting closer and then he winced in pain as he was pulled up by his hair. He came face to face with the man with the sleazy voice.

"How's it feel to be a hero, kid?" He laughed and then slammed a fist into Minato's stomach, making him dry heave and spurting a little blood out of his mouth. The man threw Minato to the ground and looked down on him, shaking his head before giving a thumbs up to his two buddies.

Everything was even hazier now for Minato as he felt the pain a little more. Still, he felt oddly calmer than he thought he would be. He was not sure why. He rolled over, getting back onto his hands and knees still breathing at a fast rate.

"Oh, does he want some more?" asked the man with the sleazy voice.

Suddenly, the young woman on the bench spoke. "Stop it. Stop that right now." Her voice had an edge to it, and the men noticed as they turned to face her. Still, there were three of them and one of her so they did not flinch much. They looked at each other then back at her.

"You want us to stop, babe? What are you going to do if we do...?" the sleazy voice cut through the silence that had ensued.

The edge of her lips turned upwards slightly. "It's more like what will I do if you _don't_." Her tone was flat, but that made it even more menacing. Her gaze drifted to the young man on the ground then back at the three thugs. She knew what she had to do.

"Arrogant bitch!" yelled the man with the sleazy voice, "Boys, let's teach this bitch a lesson."

Minato tried to get up to help her, his eyes going wide. This was not turning out well at all. What he saw next shocked him.

The young woman who was on the bench stood completely still as they stepped closer. Then shards of ice suddenly formed around her, causing the three men to stop and even take a step back. This was completely unexpected and for them impossible.

"What the..?!"

"Holy shit!"

"That's not good.."

Without even moving a muscle she sent the shards of ice hurting towards the three men. Two of them had enough wits to dodge but the third was not so lucky, as two shards embedded themselves into his chest. He cried out in pain as he was flung backwards from the impact as well, blood spilling from the wounds.

"Let's get the hell out of here!"

She shook her head at that, "Not so fast. You must be punished." She said it so calmly, so coolly that it send a shiver down Minato's spine, his mind still shocked at what he was seeing.

_She's another Sekirei__! _he exclaimed in his thoughts.

She flung her hand out towards them and ice formed instantly outwards from where she stood, the ice formation aimed at their legs and encasing them. They were stuck and started to panic, crying out for mercy immediately. They were both crying.

Minato spoke out then, "Please, stop this! I think they've learned their lesson. You don't have to take it so far."

She seemed surprised at his outburst. Turning to look at him, she gave him a strange look.

"Yes, please! Please have mercy, ice spirit! We... we're really sorry," apologized the man with the sleazy voice, the fear in his voice clear.

The other did not say anything as he continued to sob uncontrollably.

She glared at them, her hand coming up, fingers outstretched.

"Please," interrupted Minato.

She hesitated, glancing towards Minato, before sighing and lowering her arm. "Get out of my sight at once. If I ever see you again..." She trailed off, the threat evident, and the ice that held them in place melted away. They wasted no time, moving over to their comrade who was barely breathing and hauling him off. They disappeared into the fog without another trace.

The young woman knelt down next to Minato, who finally got a good look at her.

He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he realized the state of her dress. She was wearing a loose-fitting and barely-buttoned white long-sleeve polo and white panties. She was showing a lot of her pale skin. She had large breasts that were almost practically showing because of the way the shirt was put on. She had short, light-brown hair that went slightly past her ears but no longer than that. Her dark brown eyes looked at him with concern.

No wonder the thugs had approached her. She was extremely attractive and even more alluring because of the way she was dressed.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The question reminded him of his aches and pains. "Yeah, I'm fine." He was so caught up with seeing her up close that he had forgotten for a moment about the pain. He grimaced as he moved to stand up, a little unsteadily at first but he did not fall or even stumble. She followed him and stood up as well, taking a step closer.

That was when he noticed the tattoo on her forehead. It seemed to be a bird or some kind of winged animal over a yin-yang symbol with other circle-esque figures flanking it. He felt like he had seen that mark before.

"Why did you do this?" she broke the silence.

He gave her a confused look, "Do what?"

"Why did you risk yourself to help me? You do not even know me. You owed me nothing."

Minato found the question odd, but responded anyway. "I... I couldn't stand to see you getting hurt by those men. I had to stop them. It was the right thing to do."

She seemed to be considering his words carefully. "But you got hurt because of it. You did it even though you knew you could not fight them off..."

He shrugged again, "I had to do something."

"Why would you do that for someone who was discarded?"

What she said unsettled him a little. "Discarded..? Wait what?!"

Sorrow filled her voice, "I was discarded by my master..."

"That's horrible!"

"He said it was because it was a mistake that he had to throw me away." She looked down, unable to meet his gaze.

He could feel his own pain ebbing away as he realized the magnitude of what she was saying. "You're a Sekirei, aren't you? How could your Ashikabi throw you away?! That's... that's just wrong!" He could not fathom what would make an Ashikabi discard his Sekirei. To throw away a person as if they were some inanimate object was unforgivable.

It was her turn to shrug. "I was not worthy. I was a mistake."

Minato could see tears trickle down her cheeks and he reacted without thinking, following what instinct told him to do. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. Her skin was cold to the touch, but he did not care. Nor did she seem to care that he was bloodied. She stiffened in surprise at the move, but within a few seconds she had melted into his arms.

Then he said something that she did not expect to hear. "If I were your Ashikabi, I would not throw you away so carelessly."

She returned his embrace then, her hold tight around his body and her head rested on his shoulder, her face in his neck. "Do you... do you really mean that?"

He nodded, her hair tickling his face a little. "Every word. You may be a Sekirei, but you are also a person. You're not simply some object that can be tossed aside. You are precious... I'll take care of you." He hesitated after saying that, "If... if you allow me to, of course."

There was a long silence as they held each other in the foggy park.

"I am yours," she whispered, squeezing tighter before letting him go and stepping back.

He felt relieved and a little happy too. "What's your name?"

"My name is Akitsu. I am Sekirei Number Seven, though I am also called the Discarded Number," she said the last part with disdain, "If you promise not to throw me aside, then I will stand by your side as one of your Sekirei. You will be my new Ashikabi."

There was no hesitation this time. "I, Minato Sahashi, promise to take care of you, Akitsu. I'll be your Ashikabi and treat you well."

For the first time since the whole incident unfolded, she smiled ever so slightly with happiness.

"First things first though, let's button you up more," he moved to button up her shirt, blushing as his fingers brushed against her cold, pale skin. Her smile seemed to widen at that. With that business done, he asked if she could stop making it cold as he realized he was beginning to freeze. Within a few seconds the temperature returned to normal.

Apparently the cold temperature had helped to alleviate some of the pain by numbing him, but now that it was warm again he began to feel his injuries a bit more. The wave of pain made him stagger slightly and Akitsu caught him, holding him up by the shoulder, her eyes wide with concern.

"Minato!"

He smiled and waved a hand at her, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I look worse than I really am, no major injuries so there's nothing to worry about."

She did not fully believe him, but her grip on him weakened a little. She thought he was simply acting tough and downplaying his pain and discomfort simply to alleviate her concerns for him. Still, if he said he was not that badly hurt she could not exactly contradict him since she could not sense how he was feeling. People had different pain tolerances after all._  
_

He draped an arm around her as she helped to steady him, her own arm wrapped around his waist in support. With a somewhat pained smile he looked at her.

"Let's go home, Akitsu."

He guided them as they walked together, all the while wondering how Musubi was going to react and what he was going to do next. Now he had two girls to take care of, and soon he was going to be homeless.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Trying something new - focusing on producing more chapters for one story before switching to another one so that I'm a bit more focused as I write. It should also help with people who dislike waiting for more updates (myself included). Though it's tough to be writing multiple stories at once, I've always managed to do alright with it. That said, hopefully you guys will like this change of strategy on my part.

I read every review and they help to motivate me. Reactions and criticisms are welcome, so long as they are polite and constructive. Thanks!

_The Wandering Bard_


	7. Maison Izumo

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Maison Izumo

* * *

_Where am I?_ _What is this place...? _Minato looked around the unfamiliar area. He seemed to be in the middle of a jungle or forest of some kind, but he could not quite remember how he even got there. As he observed his surroundings, he noticed that things did not seem to be in focus. Almost as if there was a haze that obscured everything slightly.

He tried to remember how he got here. The last thing he could recall was walking back to the apartment with Akitsu and, upon arriving, explaining the situation to Musubi. She had seemed surprised to see Akitsu there, and both of them were at first a little hostile to each other, but Minato made it clear that he cared for both of them. And hurting each other would mean hurting Minato, and that was the last thing on their minds. In any case, that was pretty much the last thing he remembered. Next thing he knew, he woke up here.

_How strange_... he thought, scratching his head.

Everything around him also seemed to glow strangely greenish. A bright light in the distance appeared all of a sudden, catching his attention. Curious, he began to walk towards it. What made his situation stranger was that instead of the usual noises of the forest, there was simply a constant humming sound that filled his ears.

Minato got closer to the light, which was bright enough to force him to partly cover his eyes with his arm. He stopped about ten feet away from the light, unable to go any further because it was way too bright that he could barely even see.

Without warning, the light's intensity dropped considerably. He lowered his arm, squinting still as his eyes adjusted to the lower light levels. Standing before him, where the light had been coming from, was a little girl. She wore a simple white dress that went to her knees and had long dark blonde hair, slightly yellowish, and large green eyes that looked at him with... hope? He was not sure.

She leaped into the air and to Minato's surprise floated across the space between them, coming very close to the young man. Her hands stretched out towards him. "Please. Help me," she spoke, her voice full of fear. "Help me big brother."

Minato raised a hand and reached out to grab the closest hand of hers, but then she began to float away. "Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" he called out as he stepped forward, hand still outstretched towards her.

"Please, big brother! Help me!" she called as she floated away faster and slowly began to disappear.

"Wait!" he yelled, starting to run.

With a jolt, Minato sat upright on his bed. His breathing was ragged and his heart rate was slightly elevated. He looked about him and recognized that he was in his room in the old apartment. On either side of him lay two girls, both of whom slowly woke up.

"Is there... something wrong, Minato?" asked a sleepy Musubi.

Akitsu gave him a worried look, but said nothing.

Minato rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, shaking his head as he did so. "No, nothing's wrong. It was just a dream..." His gaze drifted to the window, where moonlight was streaming in. The dream had felt so real, so vivid. _And that little girl..._

He noticed that the two girls were still looking at him with concern and he smiled, laying back down. "Don't worry girls, I promise it was nothing but a dream. Come on, let's get some more sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Musubi and Akitsu shared a look before they snuggled up to Minato on either side of him, causing the young man to blush and stiffen slightly. He was still not used to having Musubi with him, and now with Akitsu there it was even harder to get used to. They were way too attractive.

It took him a while to drift back into sleep, all the while thinking about the little girl that was in his dream.

-**xxxxxx**-

Musubi was already up and getting breakfast ready by the time Minato stirred from his sleep. Akitsu still clung to his left side, though she too was already awake. She was content to simply lie there next to him, watching him as he slept, her arms wrapped around his left arm and her head resting on his shoulder. She had not felt this happy in a long, long time.

She shifted her position so that she could get a better look at his face, his eyes slow to open as he yawned. She was his now. He had given her a purpose, a chance. He had told her that he would care for her and not throw her away. And that was all she really wanted. She would not disappoint him. No. She would do everything she could to please him, because she did not want to be discarded again.

"Mmm..." Minato stretched, "Good morning, Akitsu." He gave her a sleepy smile, noticing that she was wearing some of Musubi's clothes.

"Good morning, Minato." She squeezed his arm before letting it go and sitting up to allow him to move.

Minato sat up as well and stretched again. He looked at the clock that hung on the wall. It was nine in the morning. He rubbed his face. He needed to find a place to move to tonight, else they be thrown out onto the street by tomorrow. And he was sure that his landlord would not have any mercy this time, especially considering he now had Akitsu there as well. Having one girl with him was bad enough in the landlord's eyes, but to have two would probably _really _push him over the edge.

It was as he stood up that he noticed he was in his pajamas and he had no recollection of changing into them. _Come to think of it, I don't remember too much of what happened after Akitsu and I returned... _he thought.

He looked at Akitsu, who was still sitting down on the bed and looking back at him. "Hey Akitsu, what... what happened last night? I can't really remember much."

"You passed out from exhaustion, plus it did not help that you had lost some blood in the fighting," she explained in a neutral tone, "So your other Sekirei and I we cleaned you up and changed your clothes then brought you to bed."

Minato gave a nod, "Oh, thanks then." Then his eyes widened and he did a double take, "WAIT! You did _what?_"

"Is there something the matter?" she asked, not understanding his reaction.

"You... you... you two cleaned me up... and... and changed me?"

"Yes."

"But... but..." Minato looked down at his pajamas, heat rising to his face as the realization of what had happened hit him.

"What is wrong, Minato?" asked Akitsu, genuinely worried.

He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "Uhhh... nevermind that. Nothing's wrong. . . Nothing! Come on, let's go see if breakfast is ready." With that he walked out of the room.

Akitsu watched him go with a quizzical look but then got up and followed him. Her Ashikabi could be really weird at times.

"Good morning, Minato!" greeted a happy Musubi, her eyes closing as she smiled at him.

"Morning, Musubi. Is breakfast ready?"

"Almost! Give me a few more minutes!"

Minato said, "Okay, take your time," before turning on the television and sitting down several feet in front of it.

Akitsu walked in and greeted Musubi and then sat down next to Minato, grabbing his arm and resting her head on his shoulder again. The way she was acting it was almost as if she was afraid he would leave her.

"... in other news, the abnormal growth of plants in the Arboretum has not stopped yet. MBI, the managing company, says that they are not taking the situation lightly and fully intend to find and correct the problem," said the female news anchor. "Now, on to the weather..."

"Oh right!" Minato looked reached into the pocket of his pajamas for his cellphone, but it was not there. _Oh, right. They changed my clothes last night, it's probably still in my jeans..._ he thought. "Hey Akitsu, I need to get my phone..."

"Okay," she said, letting him go.

Sure enough the phone was still in the pocket of the jeans he wore the night before. He flipped it open and pressed speed-dial #1. "MOM" appeared on the screen along with a picture of her and two kids, one of whom was Minato.

"Hello, Minato. What is it?" answered the familiar voice of his mother after the phone rang a few times.

"Hi, mom. I was calling to tell you that I'm going to move soon."

"MOVE?! At a time like this? What are you thinking?"

"I know, mom. I'm sorry, but..." he turned to look at Musubi and then Akitsu, "It's complicated."

His mother sighed on the other end of the line. "I'm really busy right now, Minato.. anything else?"

"Well, you see... about my allowance.."

"It's cut in half," she stated simply.

"Wait, _what? _But, that's not fair!" he protested, panicking.

"Look, Minato. Until you get into a college, your allowance is cut in half. Since you're not attending classes right now, you should be able to find a job. Goodbye, Minato. I've got to go." She hung up.

Minato slowly lowered the phone as well as his head, slumping his shoulders down too. _Great, just great..._

"Breakfast is ready!" announced a happy Musubi.

-**xxxxxx**-

Minato had his hands in his pockets, his gaze directed downwards as he hunched over. Musubi and Akitsu trailed behind him, eyeing him with concern. They had spent the whole day looking, and with his previous allowance he would have been able to afford a few places, but now that it was cut in half there was nothing he could afford. And since he did not have a job yet, there simply was no way they would be able to find a place before the landlord kicked them out the next day.

Minato was walking aimlessly, no real direction in mind as he thought over and over again about how he had failed to find a place and the consequences of that failure. The whole situation was magnified because he had two girls that he was supposed to be taking care of, as their Ashikabi. Why did this have to happen to him? First the entrance exams, now this? He could not fathom why these girls would ever like him. Minato, the failure.

He sighed as he kept walking, unaware that he had wandered into the same park that he had been at the night before where he had first met Akitsu.

Musubi knew she had to do something, but she was not sure what exactly. She followed her Ashikabi, hands clasped in front of her, concerned for his well-being. He was clearly devastated by the fact that they had not been able to find a new apartment to move to. She turned to Akitsu, who was feeling much the same way though was even more clueless about what to do in the current situation.

A few drops of water fell from the sky, and Minato sighed inwardly as he felt them.

It started to rain harder.

He stopped walking. The two girls behind him following suit, a few steps away. They turned to each other, unsure of what to do. Then Musubi had an idea. She gave a nod to Akitsu, who gave her a curious look but said nothing. The brunette walked over to Minato and grabbed his hand, breaking his train of thought and making him look at her.

His eyes were full of defeat and shame. He could not hold her gaze so he looked away, though he did not remove his hand from her grasp.

"Minato," started Musubi, the rain getting stronger and drenching them all. "It will all work out. Don't worry."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry... I failed you girls. I failed... to find a new home for us... I am a failure.." He turned to look at her, then turned some more so he could look at Akitsu, who had come closer at that point. "I'll understand if you don't want me as an Ashikabi anymore... it's okay. You can... you can leave me if you want. I'll understand. I'm nothing special after all."

Akitsu launched herself at him and hugged him from behind. All three of them ignored the fact that they were soaked and at this point somewhat cold, not that it phased Akitsu at all anyway. She held him tightly. "You fool," she said softly, "I would never leave you. No matter what happens, I am yours."

Musubi was still holding his left hand and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. "I won't leave you either, Minato. My place is here, by your side. To me you're the most special person in the world. I will never leave you."

He drew comfort and strength from their words, and the fear he initially had of them leaving was replaced with relief. And happiness.

Unexpectedly, Musubi let go of his hand. She reached up and put her palms on his cheeks then leaned in for a kiss. Akitsu felt the movements and let go of Minato for a moment, stepping back as she watched the scene unfold.

A bright pink light emanated from Musubi as she kissed him, and wings of energy seemed to sprout from behind her. Akitsu could feel the power radiating off of her, and at that moment she truly envied her. _So this is what it's like... the true bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei. _She wished that she could have the same with Minato, though she knew that it was no more than a dream.

"Musubi..." Minato said in a soft voice, surprised at the kiss. _Her lips are so soft... and she looks so beautiful..._

Musubi began to glow with a pink light. "I swear, Minato. I'll do anything for you. Whatever you can possibly wish for, I'll do it," she looked upward, extending her hands, "I would even break through those clouds to reach the moon, and some day... to the higher sky above!" Looking back at Minato, she crossed her arms in front of her and closing her eyes she chanted, "By my fists of the contract, my Ashikabi's perils will be shattered!"

Then she reached out and grabbed Minato's hand. "Well, shall we go?"

"Huh?" responded a bewildered Minato.

Around them swirled a strong wind that came out of nowhere. Akitsu jumped backwards as she felt the energies being released from Musubi, marveling at the scene unfolding before her. _If only I could do such a thing with Minato as well_, she thought as she hugged herself.

A whirlwind appeared around the dark-haired boy and the brunette, who jumped up into the air while holding onto Minato's arm. To his surprise, they began to fly up into the sky as the whirlwind followed them. It looked like a tornado by the time they reached the clouds, and they did indeed burst through them like Musubi had said they would. The whirlwind that they brought along with them scattered the clouds and the rain stopped, revealing a beautiful, clear sky full of shining stars and a lovely full moon.

They floated high above the city holding each other's hand, a soft breeze blowing. The whirlwind had dried them, though the temperature was still a bit chilly, especially up where they were. Minato was awed at what had transpired as well as with the scenery he was enjoying. The many lights of the city shining and twinkling to match the stars that shone and twinkled above. And the moon, it looked so beautiful that night.

"This is amazing, Musubi. Thank you." His mood was completely changed. He felt his spirits lifted.

She giggled, "You're welcome, Minato."

"Are you okay?"

"Well, kinda..."

He chuckled, "Why kinda?"

"Umm... well, I didn't think about how we were going to land..." she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Wait, what?!"

At that instant they started to fall as gravity reminded them of its existence. They both started screaming, partly in surprise and partly out of fear. The wind howled in their ears as they hurtled towards the ground, the city getting ever closer.

_Is this it? Is this how it ends...? _Minato thought.

Out of nowhere, the little girl appeared. She was engulfed in a green light and she was coming from underneath them, her hands outstretched as if to catch them. A moment later and they fell into a tree, which should have killed them. But it seemed as if the tree _caught _them, though he was not quite sure of that and later dismissed it as a strange thought as they dropped to the ground in a heap.

Back at the park, Akitsu saw them falling and fear and panic gripped her. "No," she whispered, "I cannot lose you. Not now, not when I have only just found you!" With surprising agility and speed she raced towards where they were falling, jumping up into the air and going across the rooftops of the houses and buildings. She pushed herself to go faster, hell-bent on getting there and saving Minato.

Minato grimaced in pain. He was on his back on the ground, numerous aches, brusies, scrapes, and cuts making themselves known to him. He moved up a little, leaning on his elbow, and rubbed his head with his free hand. "Musubi, are you alright?" he asked. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw and felt that Musubi was on top of him, with her butt right in his face.

_Why does this always happen?_ he thought as he felt some blood escape from his nose and heat once again rise to his cheeks. Looking around, he noticed that they seemed to have landed in someone's backyard.

"I'm okay... sorry, Minato," Musubi replied, still embarrassed. She also seemed to be in pain and as usual was oblivious to the way she was making him feel in their present situation.

"Excuse me," a feminine voice spoke out. It was a young woman with purple hair dressed in traditional miko garb: a purple hakama with a white haori and a sash-like belt to keep it all in place. Her purple eyes gazed at them with interest. "Hello there. Who are you?" she asked politely.

"Uh.. I'm... well, we are..." Minato started to say as he tried to get up, but he stumbled and hissed in pain.

"Oh! You're hurt!" exclaimed the purple-haired woman.

"Minato!" Musubi said with worry.

They both turned to look at her, and Minato's face went red. "Musubi! Your clothes!"

The brunette was on her hands and knees, looking worriedly at Minato, but she turned her attention down to her clothes at the mention of them. "Oh, I guess they ripped when we fell," she noted innocently. Her shirt was thoroughly ripped, barely covering her breasts as they were torn right down the middle.

The purple-haired woman turned around quickly, body tensing slightly as she felt someone coming. Sure enough, Akitsu appeared. She jumped high up and landed in the middle of the yard. Without so much as a glance towards the purple-haired woman or Musubi, she rushed over to Minato.

"Minato! Are you alright?" she held him carefully, eyeing his injuries with concern. Then she looked over her shoulder at Musubi, "What the hell were you thinking? You could've all died!"

Musubi lowered her head, "I'm really sorry!"

Minato reached up and touched Akitsu's hand that was on his shoulder. "It's okay, Akitsu. We're still alive, only a little banged up."

The purple-haired woman relaxed and took the situation in for a moment. The sound of a door sliding open caught all of their attentions as they looked to see who had come out.

It was a young man with gray hair in a simple white long-sleeve polo with dark pants. "Why's it so noisy. What's all the commotion out here?" He looked confused to see all of them.

The woman with the purple hair clutched her hands in front of her by her waist and tilted her head towards the new arrivals. "They're hurt, Kagari. Why don't you take care of the young man over there and I'll take care of the girl?" It was more of an order than a question the way she said it, but the young man with the gray hair did not mind.

He did take particular notice of the fact that one of the girls there had the Sekirei symbol tattooed to her forehead as he walked over and helped the young man with black hair to his feet. _What is a discarded number doing here? _he wondered as he helped the injured one inside.

After getting bandaged up and his wounds cleaned, Minato thanked Kagari profusely. Even more so once he was given some fresh clothes to wear.

"Don't mention it. Really, I was doing what Miya said anyway."

"Miya? So that's that lady's name."

"What's your name by the way?"

"Minato. Minato Sahashi."

"If you don't mind me asking, Minato," said Kagari, "What were you guys doing out there? How did you get there?"

Minato hesitated a moment as he thought back to what the guy on the TV said about not revealing anything about the Sekirei plan to anyone. Rubbing the back of his head and laughing nervously he responded, "Uhhh... I guess we... flew in with the wind, ya know?"

Kagari grinned, "Wind huh? Well, I guess there's no reason why we can't leave it at that." Though he was still curious as to why the discarded number was there, it was clear to him that Minato here was an Ashikabi and that the brunette was a Sekirei of his. _And from the looks of it, the discarded number is his too... how interesting_._  
_

"Minato!" a familiar voice called out to him.

Both guys turned as the door to the room they were in slid open, revealing three girls. Musubi stood in front of the other two. "I borrowed a kimono from Miya! What do you think?" She twirled around to show it off.

Kagari chuckled, "It's a human flower garden."

Minato stood up then. "I'm so sorry, we're wearing all your clothes and caused you a lot of trouble."

Miya smiled and tilted her head slightly, "Oh, don't worry about that dear. I like to help out wherever I can. My husband felt the same way, and in fact you're wearing his sweats!"

Turning to look at Kagari, he apologized.

To that, Kagari took a step back and waved his hands about. "Oh no! I'm not Miya's husband! He... passed away a long time ago."

"Ah, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, it was a long time ago..." she trailed off, before gasping, "Oh my, I should introduce myself. I'm Miya. Miya Asama," she bowed.

Minato bowed as well as the other two ladies. "I'm Minato Sahashi."

"I'm Musubi!"

"I am Akitsu."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Kagari by the way," said the silver-haired young man, pointedly looking at the girls since he had already introduced himself to Minato.

The sound of footsteps caused them all to turn to the other doorway across the room. A female voice said, "I'm hungry. Is dinner ready yet?" The door slid open to reveal a very attractive woman in pink underwear.

Minato's eyes widened, face going red as he looked away. Miya glared at her while Kagari shook his head in disbelief.

"Uzume! How many times do I have to tell you not to leave your room dressed like that!" he scolded her.

She grinned, not embarrassed in the slightest. "Well at least I went out with panties this time..."

Minato turned an even brighter shade of red at that revelation. Then he turned to Miya.

"Excuse me, but... what exactly is this place? I noticed you don't all look like... family..." he had realized he was not sure how exactly to put it but he was already talking so he kept going. He hoped he would not be perceived as rude the way he went about it.

Miya giggled, "You're right, Minato. We're not family. This is a boarding house and I'm the landlady," she motioned towards Kagari and Uzume, "And these are some of our tenants."

Uzume nodded affirmatively, "This is a nice place, especially since the food is great. The only problem is that this place is a bit old and worn down, but we're looking for new tenants to try and spice things up!"

Miya smiled menacingly at Uzume, "Oh? Is that so?" There seemed to be a chill in the room all of a sudden.

Uzume stammered, "Ah.. well.. I mean, this place has so much character and we're looking for new people so that we have a variety of types... heh... heh.."

Without warning Minato dropped to his knees and bowed towards Miya, surprising everyone with the gesture. "I'm sorry! We were just kicked out of our apartment and have nowhere else to go. Please can we stay here?"

"Oh my," said Miya, "You poor thing. Please, raise your head." Minato did so. "My husband believed in never turning anyone away. So, welcome home to Maison Izumo!"

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" Minato said, bowing down again in gratitude.

Everyone was smiling. The whole scene was interrupted when a loud grumbling escaped from Musubi's belly, causing her to feel embarrassed.

"Looks like it's time for dinner. We can talk about the arrangements afterwards." Miya giggled, noticing the happy looks she got from Musubi and Uzume as she left to go get the food.

Uzume pumped her fists in excitement, "You guys are going to love Miya's cooking!"

Kagari followed Miya into the kitchen, stopping in the doorway and leaning against the door frame. "Are you sure about this? You hardly even know them."

Miya gave a nod, "Yes." she paused. "I know that when they came here they weren't looking for a home... the fates guided them here. They were sent here for a reason."

"I guess you're right, though even if you're not you've already made up your mind. I can tell." He laughed a little at that, "Still, you did notice the discarded number with him right?"

Again Miya nodded. "I saw that she truly cares for him, almost as if he were her Ashikabi..." She continued to prepare the food to be brought to the dining room and Kagari watched her for a moment before offering to help.

Back in the dining room, Minato sat on one side of the table in between Musubi and Akitsu. Uzume sat across from Musubi, with an empty place for Kagari next to her. At the head of the table was a place for Miya.

"You did it, Minato!" Musubi exclaimed happily.

"Yes, you succeeded, Minato. You should be proud."

"I did what?"

"You found us a new home, silly!" said Musubi.

He let out a short laugh and rubbed the back of his head, "I guess you're right." _Maison Izumo_, he repeated the name in his thoughts, _I hope this turns out to be a good place for us_.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Let me know what you guys think so far. As you should know by now, I will be following the general storyline of the anime, adding more and more changes as we go on.

Also, sorry for the slow pace but I like to do things that way at times. Don't worry, things will pick up soon enough!

_The Wandering Bard_


	8. A Message from the Game Master

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

A Message from the Game Master

* * *

_"Please, help me!"_

Minato's eye fluttered open. He had the same dream about the little girl in the forest as before. Even though it was a dream, having the same one two nights in a row was strange. That had never happened before. What did it mean? Noticing that sunlight was already streaming in from the window, he got up, much to the chagrin of the two girls who were on either side of him.

"Morning already?" groaned Akitsu, covering her head with a pillow.

"So tired.." Musubi said as she yawned and stretched, rolling over.

He took a moment to appreciate the fact that they were there with him. Even in his failure they stuck by him, and now things seemed to be working out pretty well. He quickly got dressed.

"Come on guys. We have to move out by today, or else all my stuff will be thrown out to the curb." It didn't take too long to get them motivated after that.

After having some delicious breakfast that Miya had made, they were off to Minato's old apartment. When they got there, they had a surprise waiting for them. Or at least, for Minato.

"Yukari?!" the young man exclaimed in shock as he caught sight of a person standing in front of his apartment building.

"Hey big brother!" greeted his sister, her black hair moving in the wind as she went over and hugged him. Stepping back, she looked at the girls that flanked him with curiosity, then she nudged her brother with an elbow and gave him a wink. "I never knew you were such a player, Minato!"

"What?!" he shook his head, "No! It's not what it looks like! They're... they're just my friends, that's all!"

Yukari gave him a sly grin, "Just friends, eh?" She looked at the two girls, "Hi there. I'm Yukari, Minato's younger sister. Pleased to meet you!"

The brunette spoke first, "I'm Musubi! I'm Minato's se-" Minato's hand quickly clamped down on her mouth and Minato whispered in her ear, "Remember, we're not supposed to say anything to anyone about it."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Musubi whispered back.

"Geez, couldn't you at least wait until you went inside to do that?" Yukari looked away in mock disgust. Teasing her brother was always entertaining because of the way he reacted so seriously.

Realizing what it looked like, Minato backed away immediately and waved his hands about in a frantic manner. "Damnit! Yukari, it's not like that! I wasn't... it's not what you think!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever..." she giggled playfully, "and you are?" Yukari turned to the light-brown haired girl who happened to also have rather large breasts. Yukari noted that her clothes were definitely too small for her and wondered why she wore them. She didn't rule out the possibility that Minato had something to do with her clothing choice.

"My name is Akitsu. I'm pleased to meet you, Yukari. Minato never mentioned he had a younger sister," she said in her usual neutral tone.

"Oh? He didn't, eh?" Yukari shot him a curious look.

Minato sighed. _That's because I only just met you... _He decided to change the subject. "So what exactly are you doing here, Yukari?"

"Well, mom mentioned that you were moving soon so I thought I'd help you out. Plus, I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out the university I got into here."

"You got into university?!" Minato had no idea. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Yukari flipped her hair a little and crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm not a mean person, you know. I heard you failed your entrance exam a second time and I didn't want to say anything in case you might take it as me rubbing it in. Besides, I only got accepted a few days ago and mom's probably been too busy to tell you about it."

He looked downcast for a moment at the reminder of his failing the entrance exam a second time. But then he shook himself and looked up at his younger sister, "Wait, so where are you staying right now?"

"I'm staying with a friend of mine here in the city," she smiled mischievously, "Don't worry big bro, you'll be alone with these girls tonight." She winked at him again.

"Yukariii!"

"Anyways, seeing as how you have these two girls to help you out, I guess you don't need my help anymore with moving. That should leave me more time to explore the city and the university. If you need anything, just call me, okay?"

Minato nodded.

"It was a pleasure meeting you girls!"

"See you later!" said Musubi.

Akitsu merely waved as Yukari left.

"She seems very nice, Minato," Musubi noted.

"Mister Sahashi!" the landlord called out from off to the side, startling them. He walked towards the three of them. "You better have all your things out by sundown. Good luck with the rest of your life!" The man glared one last time at Minato and then started laughing as he walked back inside to his ground-floor apartment.

Minato watched him with a confused look before motioning for the girls to follow him. "Come on girls, we've got a lot of packing to do."

-**xxxxxx**-

"Well, I think that's everything." Minato looked around the apartment. One last box lay in the middle of the living room, and it was almost full. The apartment itself was spotless and empty. It looked like nobody had lived there at all. He made one last sweep of the apartment to make sure he had not left anything. Satisfied, he taped up the box and Musubi easily hefted it and brought it out with the others.

Stepping out of the apartment, he closed the door and locked it for the last time. A strange feeling came over him then. He was finally moving on to the next chapter of his life, one that was already far more interesting and different than his life had previously been. Placing the key in the landlord's mailbox, he met with the two girls by the curb.

An large sheet wrapped around all of Minato's things and was tied up to form an enormous pack. All of his worldly possessions were contained within, and he marveled at how much stuff he had actually managed to squeeze into that tiny apartment.

"Is it time to go now?" asked Akitsu tiredly.

Minato glanced at the apartment building first and then looked at the two of them. "Yeah. Let's go."

Musubi grabbed the pack and hoisted it over her shoulders with ease. The pack easily dwarfed her and yet she showed no signs of strain from the effort, even going so far as to smile as she noticed Minato looking at her.

"Wow, Musubi. You're _really _strong!" he noted, pausing for a few seconds before beginning to walk. The girls followed suit.

She giggled, "That's because I'm a fist type Sekirei, silly!"

"A fist type?" he looked at Akitsu thoughtfully, "So does that mean Akitsu here... is an ice type? And those twins that were chasing you... they were lightning types?"

Akitsu nodded silently and Musubi agreed, "Yup! That's right!"

"Wow. I wonder how many types of Sekirei there are."

"Hmm.. I'm not sure actually," replied Musubi. "Do you know how many types of Sekirei there are, Akitsu?"

"No."

They stayed silent for a while as they walked, each aborbed in their own thoughts. All this talk about Sekireis made Minato realize that he hardly knew anything about them, other than the fact that they had super powers and had Ashikabis as maters. He made a mental note to learn more about them and about the whole Sekirei Plan in general.

It was well past sundown by the time they reached Maison Izumo. Miya greeted them at the door and she too was impressed by Musubi's strength. Getting the pack into the house and up the stairs was a challenge, but they managed to do so without too much trouble. Without thinking, however, Musubi tried to walk right into Minato's room with it - and ended up getting stuck in the process.

They had just walked into the room. "Uhh, Minato..." said a red-faced Musubi nervously.

"What is it?" He turned to look at Musubi, who was still in the doorway with the pack squeezed between the door frame.

"I'm... stuck."

"You're _what?_" He slapped a hand to his face.

That night, he had a dream about the little girl again. It went pretty much the same way as the last few times. He was in the middle of some jungle and the little girl would appear and ask him to please help her. This time though, she was actually crying and it wrenched his heart. He wanted to help her, but how could he save her if she was merely a figment of his subconscious?

-**xxxxxx**-

The next day, Homura was changing after a nice, hot bath when his phone began to ring. He quickly finished dressing and grabbed it, flipping it open immediately as soon as he saw who was calling.

"Yes?"

"Homura. We have a problem," said the woman on the other end of the line.

He sighed, "What is it, Takami?"

"The final number. Sekirei number 108, Kusano. She's in trouble."

"What happened?"

"Minaka sent a message out earlier today to all Ashikabis in the city about Kusano, or as he called her, the 'Green Girl'. The bastard mentioned that she could be found in the Arboretum," she explained in a grave tone.

Homura gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw in anger. "After all my hard work trying to keep people away from her..." He let out a long sigh of frustration. "This means I'll have to take time off from work tonight... I'll lose my number one spot."

"Don't worry, Homura. I'll go to the club and request for you myself. Now go and protect her. I'm counting on you," she reassured him.

"Takami," he balled his free hand into a fist, "Tell Minaka that the same fire that devoured the goddess Izuname will devour him someday too."

"Sadly, I don't think he'll understand such literary expressions," she replied matter-of-factly.

Homura's lips twitched upwards slightly, "Well in that case, tell him I'll kill him soon."

-**xxxxxx**-

"How was your day, Minato?" asked Musubi as he returned to Maison Izumo later that day.

He had gone out to find a job, one that was hopefully close by. Thankfully he did find one, and it was decent pay too. Though it would be grueling work. "It was good, Musubi. I find a job!" he revealed triumphantly.

She smiled, "That's great! I knew you could do it."

"What job is it?" asked a voice from behind him, startling him enough to make him jump up and away from the voice.

It was Akitsu. "C'mon Akitsu! Try not to sneak up on people like that." She shrugged. Sighing, he told her about the job. "I found an opening with a construction company, we'll be working on a nearby construction site. I'll be helping to build an apartment complex."

"Sounds like it's going to be a lot of hard work," said another female voice who had walked into the hallway where they were gathered.

"Oh, hey Uzume." Minato smiled at her and received one in return.

"At least it'll help pack on some muscle on you and make you look sexier," she said with a wink.

"Wha- uh... ah... I... I guess.." he stammered, turning a little red.

She laughed and walked towards the front door. "Well, I'm off somewhere. See you guys later!"

"I wonder where she goes off to," Musubi thought out loud, right index finger held up near her mouth. Turning her attention back to Minato she asked him when he was starting work.

"Tomorrow morning. So I need to get a good night's rest tonight so I'm sure to be on time and ready to work tomorrow," replied Minato, "I want to make a good first impression."

Akitsu suddenly wrapped her arms around his right arm, leaning in close, "I'll go with you tomorrow."

"A-Akitsu!" he turned red again, "I... uh... well, you don't need to. Really."

"One of us must be with you at all times. We must keep you safe," she said matter-of-factly.

Musubi nodded her head in agreement. "She's right, Minato. Though, I want to be the one to go with him."

Akitsu stared coolly at the brunette. "I asked first."

"Oh yeah? Well I... asked... second.." Musubi's conviction in her response faltering as she realized she didn't have a good response. She lowered her head.

Minato put his left hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what. How about both of you come with me tomorrow, and then after that you can switch off days accompanying me. Sound good?"

Musubi's lips widened into a smile. "That works for me. Thank you, Minato."

The young man turned to the girl who clung to him. "Akitsu?"

She sighed in acquiescence, "Fine."

Suddenly, Minato's phone vibrated in his pocket. Reaching for it, he flipped it open. It was message from Minaka.

_There's a Sekirei inside the Arboretum. First one there wins. You can be the one to make the 'Green Girl' emerge. - The Game Master_

-**xxxxxx**-

The short, young teen with light brown hair and expensive clothes smiled as he read the message on his shiny smartphone. He was in the back seat of a very nice luxury car with a young woman next to him and an older looking man driving. Another woman sat in the passenger seat up front. Putting his phone down, he looked out the window as they drove through the city.

"What is it, master?" asked the young woman curiously, seeing the excited look on his face after reading that message.

After a moment of silence he turned to the girl and placed a hand on her leg. "Yomi. I have a task for you."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **And so we keep moving along.

Also, someone said that Miya has purple eyes... but as far as I can tell they're brown. (plus the official Sekirei wiki says she has brown eyes) so I'm sticking to that until inconclusive proof of purple eyes says otherwise.'

EDIT: okay, supposedly her eyes are purple..

Thanks for the feedback!

_The Wandering Bard_


	9. Nature of the Game

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Nature of the Game

* * *

"Good morning, Minato." The landlady greeted him warmly as she served breakfast. "You're up earlier than usual. Today is your first day of work, isn't it?"

"Good morning, Miya. And yes ma'am, it is." He thanked her for the food and then dug in, enjoying the usual deliciousness of Miya's cooking.

Musubi and Akitsu were eating on either side of him. The other two tenants of the boarding house were nowhere to be found. Kagari works late at the club so he usually doesn't wake up too early and as far as the three of them knew Uzume only showed herself in the afternoons or evenings so she was absent as well.

"And what will you girls be doing today?" asked Miya as she placed her empty bowl down and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

Musubi answered her enthusiastically, "We'll be accompanying Minato to work today!" Akitsu nodded in affirmation.

"Oh, how nice of you girls."

When they were done with breakfast they helped Miya clean up and then walked to the front door. As they were leaving, Miya called out to Minato and handed him a boxed lunch.

"Ah, thank you so much, Miya! I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. You have a good day now!"

On the walk to the construction site, Minato took the opportunity to talk more with the girls and learn about the Sekirei plan. He knew so little and he felt that he needed to understand more about the situation he was in. From what little he knew, not knowing more was dangerous and potentially even life-threatening.

"So, how many Sekirei are there anyway?" he asked.

Musubi, as usual, was the one to respond. "There are one-hundred-and-eight Sekirei, and we're all here in the city."

"I see. And each one is a different type?"

"Well... not exactly every one of us. Some have similar types. I know there are other fist types out there, as well as kicking types too."

Akitsu finally spoke up, "There are not too many element types, however. And none overlap."

Musubi and Minato looked at her when she said that.

"So you're the only ice type?"

She nodded.

"Okay, I think I understand. Now do your Sekirei numbers mean anything?"

"You bet! They're essentially our ranking. The lower the number, the stronger and older the Sekirei," said Musubi.

Minato contemplated that for a little while, "So you're saying that you're the 88th ranked Sekirei?" He didn't like the idea that eighty-seven other Sekirei out there were stronger than Musubi.

She seemed to realize what he was thinking and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Minato. Higher numbered Sekirei can defeat lower numbered ones. And don't worry about me, I won't lose!" Her confidence and positive attitude were infectious and he couldn't help but smile and feel a little relieved.

He turned to Akitsu, "So that means you must be really strong then, Akitsu. You're Sekirei number seven, aren't you? That means you must be really strong!" _Much stronger than Musubi,_ he thought. His mind flashed back to seeing her in action, and the way she had somehow manipulated the temperature over a wide area. She really was on a different level than Musubi.

She gave a small nod.

"But... explain to me this. You call me your Ashikabi, and I think of you as my Sekirei, yet we're really not bound that way. Right?"

A look of sadness passed through her eyes before vanishing as she looked away.

Minato caught it though and kicked himself mentally for being so tactless. "I'm sorry, Akitsu. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," she interrupted him. "You are right. We are not bound by the contract, as you and Musubi are. However, I... I cannot enter into a contract any longer due to what happened to me a while back... when I was discarded... So wherever I go, whomever I follow, is of my own choice. And," she paused and looked at him, "I've chosen you."

They had stopped walking at that point. Minato reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, their gazes meeting. "I'm honored that you've chosen to be with me. I promised to take care of you, Akitsu. And I will keep that promise, remember that."

She reached a hand up and placed it over his own and nodded, a small smile playing at her lips. "Thank you, Minato," she whispered.

Musubi looked on, happy and touched at the scene but also feeling a bit of jealousy. Minato was hers after all! She had found him first. Still, the reason why she had chosen him was because of his heart, for moments like this, and she knew that she had to get used to the fact that he was a very caring person and would care for more people other than her.

The sound of helicopters flying close overhead got their attention, interrupting the moment. All three of them looked up in time to see four helicopters passed over them, MBI painted in large white letters on their fuselages.

"MBI," Minato shifted his gaze back to the two girls as they resumed walking, "They're the ones behind the Sekirei plan, right?"

They both nodded.

Musubi explained further, "MBI raised us and then released us into the city for the Sekirei Plan. They control and operate the Plan."

"Which involves you fighting each other. I remember when you were explaining to me before." He looked back up at the sky and saw the helicopters seemed to be circling the area. "But you never told me, what happens if... if you lose?"

"Well, you see.." Musubi started to say but both girls stiffened for a split second before diving forward and grabbing Minato. Together they leaped out of the way just as the spot they were standing on exploded.

"What the hell!" cried Minato in surprise, a few dozen feet away. Both girls stood in front of him protectively, their bodies tense and eyes searching for the unknown assailant.

A man and a woman walked out of an alleyway nearby, and the man smirked as they approached the three of them. He was tall, thin, and bald. He wore some unassuming clothes: an old sweatshirt, a pair of unremarkable jeans, and some shoes that showed signs of wear. Following him was a with long waist-length brown hair and what looked to be a wand at the tip of which was a glowing green jewel in her hands.

"Greetings. You're another Ashikabi," the man noted, "I'm guessing you're off to the Arboretum too?"

Minato glared at the man, upset that he had attacked them. "No, I'm not. I'm off to work, actually," he replied stiffly, "Why did you attack us?"

The man smirked again, "It's part of the Sekirei plan. They must fight each other, and the last Sekirei standing wins... and it so happens to be that my Farrah will be the winner of this little MBI game."

Before Minato could say anything, Musubi stepped forward with her fists up and ready. She had a gleam in her eyes that Minato had first seen when she fought off the twins in the alleyway.

"I am Sekirei Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi. And I am the one who is going to win the ultimate prize, so I challenge you to a fight!"

Minato didn't like this one bit. "Musubi! No..."

She looked over her shoulder at him and winked, smiling. "Don't worry, Minato. I already told you, I wont lose!"

"No." Akitsu said sternly, causing them both to look at her with surprise. "I will handle this. You are not ready." She stepped forward, stopping next to Musubi. "Move him to a safe distance please, Musubi."

Musubi's eyes narrowed and she was about to protest when Minato grabbed her hand. "Let her handle this, Musubi." Seeing the look on her face, he realized how much a first fight meant to her, but he could not let her do this. "You'll have more opportunities to fight, Musubi. But please, for me, let Akitsu handle this one."

She didn't respond for a moment before finally relenting. "Fine. But the next battle is _mine_," she stated clearly before taking hold of Minato and jumping up to a nearby balcony to watch the fight. Minato let out a gasp from suddenly going airborne, but quickly forgot about it as they landed on the balcony safely. He rushed to the edge, hands on the railing, watching with anxiety filling him.

The bald man chuckled, amused at her enthusiasm. "Very well. Farrah, take care of this." He stepped aside as his Sekirei moved forward.

"I am Sekirei number seventy, Farrah." She raised her wand, the jewel glowing brighter.

Akitsu remained expressionless. "I am Akitsu. Sekirei number seven," she said flatly, small ice particles forming around her immediately after she finished speaking.

The man balked at that revelation, and even Farrah took a step back with widened eyes. They did not expect such a formidable opponent.

"She's a single number?" the man said, placing a hand on his bald head. Fear gripped him then, but he quickly shook it off. "It doesn't matter, Farrah. You're strong enough to beat her!" he growled.

The girl nodded firmly, gripping her wand tight. Her legs were planted in a fighting stance, body tense as she readied herself.

Meanwhile, Akitsu stood perfectly still. Her legs together and the same emotionless look that actually made her look bored. She was certainly not phased by what was happening.

Yelling a war cry, Farrah launched her attack. Swinging her wand around swiftly, she used the energy emanating from the jewel and controlling it sent out whips of green energy to lash at Akitsu. Before the whips could reach her, a wall of ice materialized out of nowhere. The ice wall exploded upon getting hit by the energy whips, causing air to blast outwards at everyone.

When the mist cleared from the exploded ice wall, Akitsu was still standing in the same spot.

"Damnit, Farrah! Don't hold back! Finish her!" yelled the bald man, pointing at Akitsu.

Farrah ran closer to her target, sending balls of energy at Akitsu, who simply moved out of the way and let the energy balls fly by her. Getting annoyed, Farrah made a series of sweeping motions with her wand, lashing out again with energy whips. She followed up by jumping up into the air and raising her wand high she brought it downwards with force. A large beam of green energy shot out from her wand.

Again the ice shield went up and there was a big explosion. Smoke, debris, and mist all covered the area at once.

Farrah landed nimbly on her feet, wand at the ready. When the smoke cleared, Akitsu was gone. A small crater formed on the spot where she had been standing. "Hmmph.." she smiled triumphantly, "Not too strong after all."

From the balcony, Minato couldn't believe it. Akitsu... she had lost?

Musubi placed a hand on one of his that was gripping the railing tightly. "She's strong, Minato. She won't easily be defeated like that."

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Then he saw her, letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in.

Akitsu stood atop one of the nearby buildings, the same blank look on her face as she gazed down at her opponent. Her dress fluttered slightly in the wind. "Not bad," she said. "My turn."

Farrah turned and began to wave her wand about, green energy surrounding her.

Moving swiftly, Akitsu sent a wave of razor sharp icicles at the girl as she ran along the rooftop. Launching herself into the air and moving with amazing speed, she sent another wave of icicles towards her target. As soon as she landed at street-level, bracing herself by going down onto a knee, ice shot out from where she stood. The ice covered the street and made a line towards Farrah, who was fending off the icicles.

Akitsu stood up then and raised her hand, palm facing Farrah. Her hand closed into a fist.

As Farrah deflected the last of the icicles, she realized that ice now encased her feet. Unable to move, she twirled her wand about as ice stalagmites shot up from the ice-covered ground. She managed to let out a burst of energy that shattered the stalagmites but as she prepared to release her feet from the ice an icicle embedded itself into her right wrist. She let out a scream of pain. Her wand flew out of her grasp, covered in blood, as the red liquid flowed from the wound. The icicle had gone through and was stuck in her wrist.

Her eyes went wide, heart racing, as she came to the realization that she would not win this battle. Her wand was both her strength and her weakness, because that was her ability - the ability to wield the power of her wand. Nobody else could except her. Without it, however, she was powerless.

"You lost," stated Akitsu simply. Without warning, ice stalagmites erupted once more from the ground and pierced through Farrah's body from different angles. Blood soon covered the area. Farrah slumped over, held up by the stalagmites that ran through her body. Her Sekirei symbol at the base of her neck glowed and then disappeared.

"No.." said the old man in disbelief, "Farrah..." His eyes teared up as he fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

The sound of helicopters reached them as Musubi and Minato got down from the balcony and walked over to Akitsu. As usual, she showed no emotion as she walked away from her defeated opponent.

Within a few minutes, MBI choppers hovered overhead and one of them actually landed. A team of soldiers with a stretcher rushing towards Farrah, a red cross band wrapped around their arms and a red cross on their helmets. An MBI officer also got out of the landed chopper and strode over to Minato.

"Hello. Are you Minato Sahashi?" asked the officer as she gave a nod of greeting, her hair waving in the wind generated from the choppers.

"Ye-yeah."

"I see." She looked at Akitsu. "And you were the one who defeated number seventy?"

Akitsu gave a silent nod.

"Do you recognize Minato Sahashi as your Ashikabi?"

Again there was a nod.

"That's all I needed to know. Have a good day," she turned around.

"Wait!" Minato needed to know something.

"Yes, Mister Sahashi?"

"Will she..." his eyes darting to Farrah and then back to the officer, "Will she be okay?"

She appraised him for a moment, surprised at the question though not outwardly showing it. "Yes. Sekirei are resilient beings and they heal particularly well when treated properly. MBI will take care of her. Now I must be going. Goodbye."

Her team had already extracted Farrah from the ice and was securing her to the stretcher.

Minato watched the scene with a mixture of emotions. He saw the bald Ashikabi reduced into a crying mess, his previous confidence replaced with shock, sadness and despair. He observed the team scrambling to treat Farrah's serious injuries as they rushed her to the chopper. This is what happened when a Sekirei lost a battle. He clenched his jaw, hands balled into fists. He vowed that would not lose any of his Sekirei in such a manner.

"This is a despicable game," he said to no one in particular. The harsh reality of the situation he was in hitting him hard.

Musubi and Akitsu shared a look before grabbing hold of either side of him.

-**xxxxxx**-

They walked in silence after that. Minato was late to work, but he didn't particularly care at that point. He had seen the true extent of the Sekirei plan first-hand. Although he had known what it was all about, it was different to actually watch it happen in person. There was a difference between knowing an idea and seeing it carried out, and what he had seen did not sit well with him.

He was glad that Akitsu was successful and had been victorious, yet he could not help but sympathize with the bald Ashikabi and his Sekirei. He looked so broken. So alone. And she was of course badly hurt. He was relieved to know that she would be okay, however. That made it less difficult for him to accept the true nature of the plan, but it was still very difficult nonetheless.

Finally arriving at the construction site, he turned to the girls. "Musubi. Akitsu. After what I've seen today... I... I don't to lose either of you, so please be careful okay?" He held each of their gazes for a moment and grabbed a hand from each, giving them a squeeze. Then he went into the construction site without another word.

He was berated by the chief for being late and when asked why he was tardy he simply said that he had gotten lost on the way.

"I'm sorry, chief. It won't happen again," he assured him.

The chief was about fifty years old, lines and wrinkles on his face showing his age. He was still big and strong though thanks to all those years working construction, so while his face showed his age his body was that of a younger man. He had close-cropped black hair and a black thick black mustache and he was several inches taller than Minato.

"Good. I won't tolerate any further lateness. Next time, take a map with you in case you get lost. Now get to work!" he barked.

"Minato..." said Musubi softly as she and Akitsu watched him report in.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I know it's been pretty slow going so far, but that's just the way I wanted it to start out. Things should begin picking up from here on out, and I hope you enjoyed this particular chapter. For those who think I'm following the original storyline a lot, well I did say that this is my take on the Sekirei story so it should be following the general path of the story, only with differences added as we go on. Some major deviations are coming soon enough though! (I think this counts as one, right?)

Also, yes I am pulling some dialogue directly from the TV show but that is part of my plan. I don't expect you to understand, but if you at least take a look at how many words I've gotten directly from the show compared to how many I've written you'd see that my supposed "lack of creativity" is merely a figment of your own imagination.

On the surface it may look the same, but delve beneath the surface and you will see it isn't what you first thought. :)

_The Wandering Bard_


	10. Battle in the Forest

**Secret of the Ashikabi**

Battle in the Forest

* * *

Minato worked tirelessly for the next few hours, his mind preoccupied with thinking about this whole Sekirei plan. What he had seen earlier on the way to work had shaken him a little. Not simply because it was dangerous, but because of the result of the whole ordeal. The look on that Ashikabi's face when Akitsu defeated his Sekirei stuck to Minato. He did not want to look or feel that way. He did not want to lose any of his Sekirei.

A bell sounded. That meant it was time for the lunch break. He retrieved the boxed lunch that Miya had prepared for him and walked over to a bench near the entrance to the construction site. Taking a seat, he began to unwrap and open the box. The smell of the food made his mouth water and he made a mental note to properly thank his new landlady for what looked to be a wonderful meal.

He was about to dig in, chopsticks in hand, when he noticed a presence on his right side. He slowly turned and found a man sitting right next to him who looked to be only a few years older. He had this wild look about him and had messy dark brown hair to match. He was staring intently at the boxed lunch and licked his lips every so often. Minato noticed that the man did not have any lunch with him at all and even though the situation was rather awkward, he felt compelled to offer the clearly hungry man some of his own lunch.

"Hey there," he greeted the man, who did not seem to hear him as he kept staring at Minato's food. His stomach audibly growled though. "I see you don't have any lunch..."

The man nodded vaguely.

"Do you want to have some of mine then?"

There was a look of surprise that came over the man's face. "Wait... are you serious?"

"Yeah, sure. There's plenty enough for the both of us." Minato grinned as the man seemed quite happy at that statement.

"Thank you so much man. I owe ya one!" He began to take a few pieces of food with his hands and put them into his mouth. His eyes widened as he tasted the food and he gave Minato an appraising look that went unnoticed by the younger man, who was content to eat away at his lunch. The man knew the specific taste of this food. Only one person in the area cooked like this.

"Seo! We brought you lunch!" called out a female voice. This was quickly followed by an audible gasp of disgust.

"HEY! SEO! WHAT THE HELL!" yelled another, nearly identical but more aggressive voice. "ARE YOU MOOCHING FOOD AGAIN?!"

"Come on, Seo! We already told you we were bringing you lunch!"

The man to Minato's right stood immediately and tried to placate the two girls who had walked in with a big plastic bag of what could only be the food they were talking about. They were glaring at him and he was trying hard to ease their anger.

"I didn't ask him! Come on, girls... he voluntarily gave me some of his food. I swear!" he tried to explain.

They were not having it though. "Yeah, right. Sure, Seo." The first girl to speak crossed her arms over her chest.

The second girl walked over to Minato and began to apologize. "I'm so sorry. Really sorry about our Seo here..."

Minato finally realized why the voices sounded so familiar. He looked up slowly and locked eyes with the girl who was apologizing to him. It was one of the twins who attacked him and Musubi a few days before. He stood up immediately as they both recognized each other with shock.

"Y-y-you!" Minato said. He then realized that he had dropped his lunch on the ground and looked down in horror at the turned over box and the spilled food. It was already all covered in dirt. "Aw damnit! My landlady made that special for me too..." he said in despair.

"Here," said the second girl, reaching a hand into the bag and pulling out some bread, "Since Seo here ate some of your food, it's only fair that you have a share of ours."

Minato accepted it graciously, though he still looked at them with suspicion. At that point, Seo grabbed both of the girls and smiled widely, showing surprisingly well-maintained teeth for his gruff look. He eyed Minato with interest.

"I see you've met my girls then," he remarked, "This is Hibiki," he grabbed a handful of the first girl's breast, "And this is Hikari," he did the same to the second girl. Both of them growled and protested at being handled like that. "They're my Sekireis."

"Wait, you're an Ashikabi?!"

"Yup!" his smile widened, "The name's Seo. Seo Kaoru. Pleased to meet you...?"

"Minato. Minato Sahashi," he introduced himself.

"Get your hands off us you freak!"

"Let go, Seo!"

"I'm warning you!" Hikari growled.

Seo did not pay any heed and continued to fondle them with a big smile plastered to his face, much to the discomfort of Minato who began to eat the bread as he stood there. A sudden bright flash accompanied by the sound of electricity crackling came from the group and Seo fell to the ground, his clothes smoking a little. Hibiki and Hikari had their noses up in the air and their hands on their hips as their Ashikabi slowly gathered himself off the ground.

"So I take it you're going after the Green Girl after work?" asked Seo once he had recovered, which surprisingly didn't take too long. Perhaps because this happened on a regular basis and he was getting used to it. Either that, or he was extremely tough.

Minato had a blank look on his face. "The Green Girl?"

"Oh, you don't have to play dumb with me, man! We're both Ashikabis here. I'm sure you got the message too," he said, amused. "Anyways, how's about we go and find her together after work? It's right down the block after all."

As he finished talking, the bell tolled again signalling that it was time for everyone to get back to work. Lunch was over. Before Minato could respond, Seo had already walked away.

"I'll see you after work, girls. And you too Minato!"

-**xxxxxx**-

Sure enough, after work Seo and the twins were waiting for Minato out by the entrance. As he walked out, Musubi and Akitsu appeared from wherever they had been hiding and were right up next to Minato. They clutched either side of him and looked warily over at the two other Sekirei who stood a few feet away.

"How was your first day, Minato?" asked Musubi, "You didn't over exert yourself, did you?"

Minato laughed a little, "It was fine, Musubi. And no, I didn't tire myself out too much. Thanks for asking."

Akitsu spoke up, "Are we supposed to fight them?" She looked at the two other girls coolly.

Minato shook his head, "No, no! They're... not here to fight us. At least that's what I think." He looked at Seo, who nodded at that statement.

"Don't worry, I'm not exactly a big fan of the Sekirei plan so I don't really like my girls fighting," he told them truthfully.

Musubi was not convinced that they did not have ulterior motives of some kind. "Well then why did you attack us in the alley?"

Hibiki responded quickly, "We were only targeting you, and that was because you hadn't emerged yet."

Hikari nodded, "Unemerged Sekirei are not only easier to defeat because their powers aren't fully realized, but it's also easier for us because there's no Ashikabi involved. That means less pain and heartache for everyone."

"Trust me when I tell you that I mean you no harm any longer," added Seo in a serious way. After a moment, he then grinned, "So these are your Sekirei eh?" he looked them over and nodded slowly, "I like 'em... yeah they look nice, and they've got really great racks too! You sure know how to pick em!"

That elicited another jolt of electricity from the twins, sending him to the ground once again.

Minato rubbed the back of his head, "But I didn't choose them... they chose me..." he said.

"Anyways, enough with all this talking. Let's get to finding the Green Girl!" exclaimed Seo excitedly, his fist pumping into the air, having already recovered from the little electric jolt.

"So what do we do? Where do we find her?" asked Minato.

Turning around, Seo pointed over to what at first glance looked to be some kind of a park nearby. "The Arboretum!"

"Easier said than done, it looks like," noted Minato as he looked over there.

In front of the gates to the Arboretum on this street was an armored MBI guard unit. They had two Armored Personnel Carriers and about two dozen soldiers stationed outside the gates. For what purpose, Minato was not sure. Their mission had to be more than simply guarding the Arboretum from vandals and troublemakers, since having that much firepower seemed like overkill to simply protect a few trees.

"Leave it to us," he grinned at Minato before turning to the twins, "Girls? If you would please."

Hibiki and Hikari looked at each other and gave a nod, "Right," they said in unison as they grabbed a hand from one another. With their free hands they pointed them towards the soldiers. Electric energy began to crackle all around them. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed from their hands and drove straight into one of the APCs, causing it to explode. Another similar attack left the second APC a burning wreck. The remaining soldiers scattered, running scared.

The three of them began to walk towards the Arboretum, leaving Minato with his own Sekirei watching.

Seo noticed that they were not coming along and he turned around. "C'mon man! Are we doing this or not?"

Minato was getting this strange feeling that Seo was someone he did not really want to associate with. Still, he had his own Sekirei there to help him if he got in a bind. Plus he needed to know more about Sekireis, and talking it over with another Ashikabi seemed like the best way to do that right now. He reluctantly began to follow his newfound friend's lead, his girls quickly following his footsteps.

He only hoped that this little foray wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.

-**xxxxxx**-

They were lost. They had walked into the forest five minutes ago and now could not get their bearings. All the plants were growing out of control and obscured practically everything around them. Between the tall grass and the bushes, they were waist deep in undergrowth and partly in the dark thanks to the abundance of the trees and the resulting thickness of the tree cover.

"This is ridiculous!" yelled Seo in frustration as he pulled at some bushes that were in his way, ripping off thin branches by the handful.

All their clothes were torn up in several places and they had a few shallow cuts that showed how tough going it had been in the last five minutes. They finally managed to make it into a clearing, which was a blessing. They stayed there and rested for a few minutes. All around them was the dense forest. Minato remembered that they were mentioning in the news that there was alarming plant growth in the Arboretum.

"Is this the Green Girl's work?" Minato asked no one in particular as he looked around.

"Maybe," replied Musubi as she pulled some twigs out of her hair, "I wonder if her power has something to do with plants..."

Akitsu didn't really seem to care too much that there were leaves and some twigs in her own hair. She seemed content with simply being out of the undergrowth and being next to Minato. She stayed silent as usual.

Seo stretched and then scratched his chin. "So, got any ideas?" He looked at the twins, who shrugged, and then to Minato and his Sekirei.

Minato was about to say no when he noticed one of the trees nearby seemed to be glowing a faint greenish hue. He blinked several times, wondering if perhaps his eyes were paying tricks on him, but the glow remained. Curious, he walked over to the tree.

"Minato..?" Musubi watched him with concern as he approached the tree.

Seo seemed rather interested in what was going on while everyone else gave him a strange look.

Reaching out his hand, he touched the tree. As soon as his skin made contact, he stepped back wide-eyed as a glowing little girl emerged from the tree.

_It's the same girl from my dreams!_

She looked scared and seemed rather timid as she floated in the air. She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Hey there," he finally spoke, "Are you the one they call the Green Girl?"

She nodded and then pointed off somewhere.

Minato looked at where she was pointing, then back to her. He gave a nod of understanding and then she gave him the smallest of smiles before reverting back to her scared look and then disappearing entirely. Minato's eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the lower level of light as the glowing had disappeared.

"Let me guess," said Seo first, "You saw a little girl? Yellow hair? Green eyes?"

Minato nodded, "You saw her too?"

"Nope!" Seo grinned.

Minato's eyes narrowed, "Are you serious? You didn't see her? She was right here!" He pointed to the space in front of him.

Seo looked to everyone else, "Anyone see anything?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Well _I _saw her, and she's very scared right now. We need to help her." He added in his thoughts, _**I** need to help her._

"So you know where she is then?"

Minato pointed to where the little girl had directed him to earlier and he started moving with renewed vigor, plunging into the undergrowth.

"Minato! Wait for us!" Musubi cried as she chased after him, Akitsu right behind her.

Seo scratched his head for a moment and looked thoughtful. He had been skeptical about the message from the beginning, but it didn't hurt to check it out of course. Now he had changed his mind - the message was true. There was an unwinged Sekirei there in the Arboretum. He turned to his two Sekirei. "Come on girls. Let's help him out."

-**xxxxxx**-

Homura got into a fighting stance, his eyes narrowed as a flame ignited on his outstretched left palm.

"Mikogami isn't getting this one," he said firmly.

His opponent was a woman wielding a scythe. She laughed at him as her light brown hair moved in the wind, "Perhaps another time, Homura. I'm not here for you." She leaped into the air and over the tall fence of the Arboretum, landing softly on the other side.

Homura jumped up onto one of the pillars of the fencing and readied to attack, not wanting her to get any further in.

"Ah-ah! You can't use your powers here. You wouldn't want to burn down the forest and the Green Girl with it now, do you?" she said confidently before running off.

He growled but extinguished the flames surrounding his hand with some effort. Turning around, he crossed his arms across his chest. Nobody else was getting through. As for the Sekirei with the scythe, he'd make sure to head her off before she takes the last number to her master, _if_ she manages to find her. He hoped that she would fail in her task.

-**xxxxxx**-

Minato ignored the pain, grunting as he pushed his way through the thick undergrowth. His clothes had torn even more from his efforts and more cuts appeared on his skin, but he did not care. The little girl looked like she was in trouble and she needed him. He would do whatever it took to help her.

Behind him his Sekirei were calling his name. Eventually, they tired of it and Musubi finally had a thought that she might be able to jump between tree trunks easier. Using her strength and speed she did just that and managed to catch up to Minato. Akitsu, not wanting to be bested in such a manner, decided to freeze all the plants in front of her and then it was a simple matter of shattering the frozen plants.

Eventually, they stumbled upon another clearing, this one bigger than the last. There seemed to be some kind of construct in the middle of it. A hut or cave of some kind made entirely out of tree bark. It was quite a sight to behold, though Minato quickly shook off his awe and started to walk towards the thing. A green glow permeated the area and appeared to be emanating from within the construct.

Musubi and Akitsu were right behind him, their eyes darting back and forth warily in case this was some sort of trap.

The way having been cleared by Akitsu with her freezing powers, Seo and the twins managed to catch up relatively quickly. Seo stopped as soon as he saw the construct and that Minato was heading for it. Hikari and Hibiki moved to follow them but were held back by their gruff-faced Ashikabi. They turned and looked at him with confused looks.

"I thought we were helping them?" asked Hikari, her sister nodding in agreement.

"This is as far as we go. The Green Girl's chosen him to be her Ashikabi after all, we shouldn't interfere."

The twins said nothing in reply to that statement as they watched the group ahead of them enter the wooden construct.

"Hello? Helloo? Are you in here?" Minato called out as he took his first steps into the wooden construct. It seemed to be a natural shelter made by directing and changing the way the trees used grew. Nowhere was there evidence that someone had cut the wood and put it together with nails, as any normal human would have done if this were a normal human building.

A small voice responded from the back of the construct, hidden in a little nook in the wood. "Who's there..?" Her voice was so timid if it weren't for the fact that it was very quiet in there Minato might not have heard her. She stepped out of where she was hiding, her eyes full of fear and her body crouched low. Upon seeing Minato, however, her eyes widened and a small smile grew on her face.

"Big brother...? Is that... is that you?"

He walked closer and smiled back, "Hi there. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you... I'm here to help." He waved to Musubi and Akitsu, "_We _are here to help you. You're safe now, okay?"

"Big brother..." she repeated and when he got close enough she pounced on him, hugging him tightly. "Please, big brother... help me.." she whispered.

Musubi and Akitsu stiffened visibly at that, though they said nothing.

Stunned by her actions for a moment, Minato slowly returned the hug and stroked her hair a little. He realized that she was crying and he began to soothe her. "Shhh... shhh.. it's alright.. it's alright... I'm here for you. You're safe now..."

Meanwhile, outside Seo and the lightning twins waited for them to emerge. Noise from behind them made them turn around though, with Hikari and Hibiki tensing and readying to attack. Sure enough, a woman with a scythe was running towards them at an impressive speed, her light brown hair flowing behind her.

"Out of my way!" she yelled. Hibiki and Hikari stood their ground however, forcing the scythe-wielder to stop before them. "If it isn't Hikari and Hibiki..." she said under her breath.

Before any other words could be said, however, Seo intervened. "Girls, let her through." He seemed a little hesitant saying that, but stuck with his decision.

"What?!" reacted Hikari, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yeah, explain yourself Seo!" concurred Hibiki.

Seo sighed, crossing his arms, "This isn't our fight anymore so we shouldn't intervene. Besides, Minato has his Sekirei to protect him." Plus he wanted to see not only Minato's Sekirei in action but how Minato himself reacted to this situation too. He needed to find out what kind of person he really was.

The woman with the scythe at first was surprised as well, but then her surprised look turned into a smirking one. "You should listen to your worthless loser of an Ashikabi here and stand aside before I slice you up and make him have to mooch other people's Sekirei instead of only food."

That made Hikari visibly shake with anger while both her and Hibiki glared at the woman. "Shut up! You have _no _right to talk about our Seo like that! Just because your Ashikabi is rich, smart, and good-looking doesn't mean he's better than our Ashikabi, because he... he isn't!"

Hibiki held a hand up to her face, "Umm, Hikari... I think you're only reinforcing her point.."

"Enough of this," said the woman, "Move aside, _now!_" She lurched forward, her scythe threatening and causing the twins to part. With that opening she ran through them and headed for the wooden construct. There was no point in fighting them after all since their Ashikabi told them to stand down. Before she could make it to the construct she stopped in her tracks as she observed people exiting from it.

Minato held the little girl in his arms. She was apparently exhausted, no doubt because she had been scared and worried all this time by herself, and had passed out on him while she was crying. He eyed the girl with the scythe critically, because she definitely did not look friendly. On either side of him, Musubi and Akitsu tensed.

"Hello there," greeted the woman, "I'm glad that you've retrieved the Green Girl. Now hand her over and nobody gets hurt."

Minato shook his head, "Not a chance, lady." He clutched the little girl tighter in his arms.

"Fine. Then I'll have to take her by force!" she exclaimed as she leaped forward and brought her scythe to bear.

Minato could not move away in time and gritted his teeth as he readied himself to take the blow, but then Musubi jumped in front of him and easily stopped the blade from cutting him down. Her hands were up and were firmly holding the blade on either side. She had a very serious expression on her face.

Surprised at having her attack stopped in such a manner, the woman complained, "Hey! Let my scythe go this instant!"

Musubi shook her head. "This thing is sharp and very dangerous. You could hurt someone with it!" She proceeded to break off the piece she was holding with ease, the scythe's blade essentially being split in two. Tossing aside the broken piece of the blade, she got into a fighting stance with her red gloved fists up. Her anticipation for the battle filled her with energy.

The woman stared in horror at her broken scythe, her mouth agape. A few seconds later she growled, her eyes squinting angrily. "Y-y-you... you... b-broke my... death scythe.." she stammered in disbelief. She took a few moments to observe the damage before turning back to Musubi. Then she twirled her scythe in her hands and readied an attack, "You're going to pay for that!"

As this was happening, Akitsu had pulled Minato and the girl to the side so as to get out of the way. She had told Minato that they were too close and would be in danger. Now that they were at a safer distance, they watched, with Akitsu prepared to defend Minato should Musubi fail and should the woman decide to ignore Musubi and attack her Ashikabi as she had nearly done earlier.

Musubi dodged the slashing scythe and jumped to the side, rolling in midair and sending a kick into the woman's chest that forced her backwards a few steps. The woman growled and spinning her scythe around she brought it down, the force of the movement causing a shockwave that hurtled towards Musubi. She dodged it and running forward she moved to attack again.

This time, the woman avoided that attack and catapulted herself into the air. Her scythe was twirling again and she brought it down once more in different angles, causing multiple shockwaves through the air. She grinned as Musubi was unable to avoid all of them, forcing her to tumble backwards and have parts of her clothes rip off.

Landing on the ground, she grinned. "This is too easy!" she boasted as she let loose with another attack.

Musubi, still recovering from getting hit a moment ago was flung backwards several feet with more of her clothing tearing off. Her large breasts were already exposed and only tatters of her skirt remained, her panties at least keeping her privates covered. Though at the rate things were going, it seemed like that would not last very long.

Minato took a step forward, eyes full of concern and dread, but Akitsu held him back. He did not force himself forward, too engrossed and afraid as he was watching the fight unfold. Things were not looking good. Not good at all.

"Is that all you've got?" asked the scythe-wielder, laughing as she watched Musubi struggle to get up as she was clearly hurt. "You look almost as weak as your dumb, pathetic little Ashikabi over there." She glanced over at Minato.

Musubi covered her exposed breasts with one arm and held up her other in a fighting stance. Her eyes were still full of determination. "You take that back this instant! Minato is an amazing person and a wonderful Ashikabi!"

The woman laughed, "Make me take it back, then!" She readied her scythe.

Musubi ran forward, readying to strike, but before she could even get close she was again knocked back by a shockwave of air that ripped the rest of her clothes off. The only piece remaining on her body was her panties as she skidded across the ground. She groaned as she moved to get up.

Seo's eyes were wider than normal as he took in the sight of the practically naked Musubi. He was grinning stupidly as he stared at her. "Damn! Those must be the greatest set of boobs I've ever seen!"

Hikari had electricity crackling from her hands as Hibiki shook her head and called Seo a pervert. A shock was delivered to their Ashikabi a moment later.

"Looks like I missed something," said the woman in a condescending tone, "No matter. I'll finish you right here, right now!" She yelled as she brought her scythe to bear once more.

Musubi meanwhile was on her knees on the ground, her head low. Her first true battle and she was losing miserably. Where had she gone wrong? Why was she so weak? She could not believe it. This was it. This was the end of the line for her. She was going to lose.

_Snap out of it!_ a voice yelled at her from within. _You CAN'T lose. Do you want to be separated from Minato? No? Then get up and show her your strength! Defeat her!_

"Right," she said softly. "I won't lose." Her eyes widened as she snapped her head up. A giant shockwave was heading for her at that moment. The finishing blow.

An explosion erupted in the clearing, throwing dirt and debris up in the air as the massive shockwave hit the ground where Musubi had been kneeling. There was a thick dirt cloud that obscured everyone's vision, so Musubi was out of sight. The woman with the scythe landed softly on her two feet after having gone airborne again to launch her final attack. She smirked triumphantly as she eyed the pillar of dirt and debris that went up from the ground where her opponent had been.

Minato fell to his knees, the little girl still in his arms though only barely as his grip loosened. There were tears in his eyes as shock came over him. _No, no... no... this can't be happening... Musubi..._

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for being patient! Here's some more story for ya. :)

_The Wandering Bard_


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